Chinese New Year is just around the corner.
It’s a great reminder for us to cherish our loved ones as we get together to celebrate this festive occasion.
The tradition of giving red packets, or “Ang Pow”, should remain strong, despite our local banks encouraging the use of e-hongbao due to the effects of the pandemic.
Investors, likewise, can also look forward to receiving dividend “Ang Pows” this year as businesses recover from the debilitating effects of the crisis.
Coincidentally, this will also be the Year of the Ox, where the ox is a representation of the bull.
It’s an apt analogy if you consider this year as a recovery one, as businesses adapt and evolve to the changing landscape wrought by the pandemic.
Here are two companies that could be handing out a big bonanza to investors for this year.
iFAST Corporation Limited (SGX: AIY)
iFAST Corporation Limited is a financial technology company that operates a platform for the buying and selling of unit trusts, equities and bonds.
The group has enjoyed a boost in its business from the explosion in online data usage and shift towards digital means of study and work.
For the first nine months of 2020, iFAST reported a strong set of financials, with net revenue rising 27.5% year on year to S$61.5 million.
Net profit attributable to shareholders more than doubled from S$6.5 million to S$14.3 million.
iFAST has also enjoyed net inflows of S$2.3 billion compared to just S$707 million in the same period last year.
As a result of the strong inflows, iFAST announced that its assets under administration (AUA) hit a record-high level of S$14.45 billion as of 31 December 2020.
For context, AUA had increased by 44.5% year on year and was up across all of the group’s core markets, with its Singapore operation seeing a 52.8% year on year rise in AUA to hit the S$10 billion milestone.
In December, the group announced that it had not managed to clinch a Singapore digital bank wholesale licence.
However, there was still good news that it released last week.
iFAST had participated in the tender for Hong Kong’s eMPF platform contract bid to streamline and automate its Mandatory Provident Fund (MPF) Scheme as the prime subcontractor, working alongside PCCW Solutions Limited, a unit of PCCW Limited (SEHK: 0008).
The group announced last week that the contract had been awarded to PCCW and that the project is subject to finalization details.
This eMPF Platform project comprises a two-year implementation period and a seven-year operation and maintenance period.
With the raft of good news, there might be a dividend ang pow in the form of a higher final dividend or even a special dividend when the group announces its full-year 2020 earnings after the market closes on 5 February.
Boustead Projects Limited (SGX: AVM)
Boustead Projects Limited, or BPL, is a leading real estate solutions provider with engineering expertise in the design and build of industrial developments using cutting-edge technology.
The group has, to date, constructed and developed more than 3 million square metres of real estate in Singapore, China, Malaysia and Vietnam, and counts multinational blue-chip companies as its clients.
BPL is also a subsidiary of Mainboard-listed Boustead Singapore Limited (SGX: F9D).
Last December, BPL announced that it has established a private trust called Boustead Industrial Fund (“BIF”) to invest in logistics, business park and industrial property assets.
This strategic move unlocks a significant portion of its existing real estate portfolio by monetising the properties to bring in cash for the group.
BPL has remarked that it may pay out a special dividend from the proceeds of the sale of properties into BIF.
Separately, the group also announced that it had secured its first green loan from United Overseas Bank Ltd (SGX: U11) to finance its landmark industrial development, ALICE @ Mediapolis.
And the group isn’t standing still with regards to business developments, either.
Just this week, it announced the acquisition of a 49% interest in a Vietnamese company that holds two plots of land in Yen Phong Industrial Zone to grow its income-yielding industrial portfolio.
Once completed, such properties may then be injected into BIF when opportunities arise.
Investors can look forward to a possible dividend bonanza when BPL announces its full fiscal year 2021 earnings in May this year.
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Disclaimer: Royston Yang owns shares in Boustead Projects Limited, Boustead Singapore Limited and iFAST Corporation Limited.