The Contact Energy Ltd (ASX: CEN) share price is in focus today after the company reported mass market electricity and gas sales of 550GWh, up from 454GWh in August 2025, and a stable mass market netback of $148.57/MWh.

What did Contact Energy report?

• Mass market electricity and gas sales: 550GWh (August 2025: 454GWh)
• Mass market netback: $148.57/MWh (August 2025: $148.36/MWh)
• Wholesale contracted electricity sales: 1,087GWh (August 2025: 1,090GWh)
• Electricity and steam net revenue: $164.59/MWh (August 2025: $164.24/MWh)
• Unit generation cost: $40.90/MWh (August 2025: $57.52/MWh)
• Geothermal generation: 457GWh; Hydro generation: 539GWh

What else do investors need to know?

Contact Energy continues to progress several renewable development projects, including Te Mihi Stage 2 geothermal (expected online Q3 CY27, $712m), Glenbrook-Ohurua Battery 2 (Q1 CY28, $235m), and Glorit Solar (Q4 CY28, $316m). The company reports strong controlled hydro storage, with the South Island at 166% and North Island at 84% of mean.

Electricity demand in New Zealand for August 2026 was down 0.3% compared to August 2025, but up 5.3% on August 2024. The average temperature across the country hit 9.7ºC, continuing a warmer-than-normal trend.

What’s next for Contact Energy?

Looking ahead, Contact Energy is focused on delivering its renewable development pipeline, aiming to bring more geothermal, battery, and solar capacity online over the coming years. The company’s next 12 months are supported by contracted gas volumes of 8.2PJ and an ongoing commitment to strong operational performance.

Contact’s ESG initiatives, including reduced greenhouse gas emissions intensity and increased community support, remain a key part of its long-term strategy, providing further confidence for socially responsible investors.

Contact Energy share price snapshot

Over the past 12 months, Contact Energy shares have declined 15%, trailing the S&P/ASX 200 Index (ASX: XJO), which has declined 1% over the same period.

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The post Contact Energy reports higher sales and renewable project progress in August appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

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Motley Fool contributor Laura Stewart has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool Australia’s parent company Motley Fool Holdings Inc. has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool Australia has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy. This article contains general investment advice only (under AFSL 400691). Authorised by Scott Phillips. This article was prepared with the assistance of Large Language Model (LLM) tools for the initial summary of the company announcement. Any content assisted by AI is subject to our robust human-in-the-loop quality control framework, involving thorough review, substantial editing, and fact-checking by our experienced writers and editors holding appropriate credentials. The Motley Fool Australia stands behind the work of our editorial team and takes ultimate responsibility for the content published by The Motley Fool Australia.

The ASX dividend stock Washington H. Soul Pattinson and Co. Ltd (ASX: SOL) could be the most appealing way for retirees to receive income. I’d rank it above receiving the Age Pension.

The business is one of the oldest on the ASX, it has already displayed excellent longevity characteristics to succeed through world wars, global pandemics, global recessions and so on.

It started life as a pharmacy business and has evolved into a diversified investment house, which is one of the reasons why I think it’s such an effective choice for dividend income. Let’s get into the reasons why it’s so compelling, in my view.

Regularly growing dividend income

I think one of the main reasons to prefer Soul Patts shares over the Age Pension is that its dividend income has been very reliable and grown faster than inflation.

The business has increased its regular annual dividend per share every year since 1998. This shows it has been incredibly reliable for shareholders over the last three decades.

Over the last five years, the ASX dividend stock has increased its payout at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 11.9%. The company increased its FY27 interim dividend by 9.1% to 48 cents per share.

Dividend growth isn’t guaranteed, of course, but the business has a strong track record of rising payouts, and it’s one of its key goals.

The current forecast on Commsec suggests the business could increase its FY26 annual payout by more than 11% to approximately $1.15. If that happens, the grossed-up dividend yield would be 3.7%, including franking credits, at the time of writing.

Impressively diversified portfolio

The investment house has spread its money across a variety of areas including listed companies, ’emerging companies’, credit, private companies and ‘real’ assets (such as real estate, agriculture and data centres).

By spreading investments across a range of areas, the company can lower its risk and give investors exposure to a portfolio of compelling assets, rather than just one or two sectors like many S&P/ASX 200 Index (ASX: XJO) shares.

This diversification strategy also allows the business to look across industries and geographic markets for the best opportunities. I think the flexible mandate helps generate the best returns over the long-term.

Capital growth

Another reason to prefer owning Soul Patts shares is that its portfolio has steadily increased in value over time as its existing investments have grown and it has made additional purchases.

This reflects growth in the net asset value (NAV), which is also strongly correlated with growth in the Soul Patts share price.

Over the last four years, Soul Patts’ share price has risen by roughly 70% (at the time of writing). I’m not expecting the same performance over the next four years, but it shows the kind of return Soul Patts can deliver.

Match the Age Pension

The Age Pension will soon increase, but at the time of writing, the maximum a single Australian can receive is approximately $31,200 per year on an annualised basis.

If the business does pay $1.15 per Soul Patts share in FY26, that would require 27,131 shares based on the FY26 payout. However, I expect the FY27 payout will be larger, so we won’t need as many shares in FY27 to achieve $31,200 in annual dividends.

The post 27,131 shares of this ASX dividend stock pays an income equal to the Age Pension appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

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Motley Fool contributor Tristan Harrison has positions in Washington H. Soul Pattinson and Company Limited. The Motley Fool Australia’s parent company Motley Fool Holdings Inc. has positions in and has recommended Washington H. Soul Pattinson and Company Limited. The Motley Fool Australia has positions in and has recommended Washington H. Soul Pattinson and Company Limited. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy. This article contains general investment advice only (under AFSL 400691). Authorised by Scott Phillips.

$1,000 a week could make retirement look very different.

That is $52,000 a year arriving without having to go to work for it.

But how much superannuation would I actually need?

It depends on the income your portfolio produces

The answer comes down to the income yield you expect from your investments.

If the goal is to generate $52,000 a year without regularly selling down the portfolio, I am going to need a substantial superannuation balance.

For example, with a 4% dividend yield across the portfolio, I would require a balance of approximately $1.30 million. 

However, with a 5% dividend yield, the balance would fall to around $1.04 million, while a 6% yield would reduce the figure to about $867,000. 

All examples are before considering any potential benefit from franking credits.

Why I wouldn’t simply chase a big yield

It would be tempting to decide that $867,000 is all I need and just aim for a 6% dividend yield in retirement.

But I would be careful with that.

A very high dividend yield can sometimes be a warning sign. A company may be struggling, its dividend may be unsustainable, or the share price may have fallen because investors expect earnings to deteriorate.

For retirement income, I would prefer a portfolio built around businesses and funds capable of supporting their payments over many years.

That could include infrastructure shares such as APA Group (ASX: APA) and Transurban Group (ASX: TCL), property investments such as Charter Hall Long WALE REIT (ASX: CLW), and established companies such as Coles Group Ltd (ASX: COL) and Woolworths Group Ltd (ASX: WOW).

Dividend-focused ASX exchange traded funds (ETFs) could also help spread the income across a larger collection of businesses.

Growth still has a role

Even in retirement, I would not necessarily turn the entire superannuation balance into income investments.

Inflation does not stop when you retire. If the portfolio can continue growing over time, that can help the income stream grow as well.

A mix of ASX dividend shares, quality growth companies, ETFs, and defensive assets could therefore make more sense than simply trying to maximise the starting yield.

Foolish takeaway

I think targeting around $1.04 million would be a sensible starting target for someone hoping to generate $1,000 per week from a portfolio yielding approximately 5%.

The important part is building an income stream that has a good chance of still being there many years into retirement.

The post How much do I need in superannuation to receive $1,000 passive income per week? appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

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Motley Fool contributor James Mickleboro has positions in Woolworths Group. The Motley Fool Australia’s parent company Motley Fool Holdings Inc. has positions in and has recommended Transurban Group. The Motley Fool Australia has positions in and has recommended Apa Group and Transurban Group. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy. This article contains general investment advice only (under AFSL 400691). Authorised by Scott Phillips.