The SPDR STI ETF (SGX: ES3) is an exchange-traded fund (ETF) that mimics Singapore’s Straits Times Index (SGX: ^STI).
For the year to date up till 31 July 2026, it delivered a total return of 23.3%.
That is a strong year for the index.
It also sets a high bar.
Yet, three smaller Singapore-listed companies cleared it.
Micro-Mechanics (Holdings) Ltd (SGX: 5DD) returned 67.5% over the same period.
Civmec Ltd (SGX: P9D) returned 35%.
Info-Tech Systems Ltd (SGX: ITS) returned 23.7%, a margin of just 0.4 percentage points over the index.
The three share no sector and no customer base.
They do share one trait.
Each reported an acceleration investors could measure, and each pointed to a forward book that suggested the acceleration might continue.
Why did a tool maker beat the index by more than 40 percentage points?
Micro-Mechanics makes consumable tools for semiconductor assembly and testing.
It also supplies parts for wafer fabrication equipment to customers in the US and Singapore.
Revenue for the third quarter of FY2026 (3QFY2026) rose 16.2% year on year (YoY) to S$18.6 million.
Net profit attributable to shareholders climbed 18.8% to S$3.8 million.
The Consumable Tools segment did the heavy lifting, and its sales jumped 20.9% to S$14.4 million.
Management attributed the demand to artificial intelligence and computing applications.
Gross margin widened to 51.6% from 50.5% a year ago.
China remained the largest geographic market.
Sales there rose 25.2% YoY to S$18.8 million for the first nine months of FY2026.
Investors may have read the combination of volume growth and margin expansion as a sign that pricing held while demand climbed.
The group also ended the quarter with S$25.7 million in cash and no bank borrowings.
One number moved the other way.
Free cash flow came in at S$2.8 million against S$3.6 million a year ago, as higher working capital needs weighed on operating cash flow.
Free cash flow is the lifeblood of dividends, and this measure fell while profit rose.
Micro-Mechanics declared no dividend for the quarter.
The group pays in its second and fourth quarters.
Can a bigger order book carry Civmec’s dividend?
Civmec provides construction and engineering services to the energy, resources, infrastructure, and marine and defence sectors.
It runs its operations from Henderson in Western Australia and reports in Australian dollars.
Third quarter revenue for the fiscal year ending 30 June 2026 (3QFY2026) jumped 54.1% YoY to A$244.2 million.
Net profit after tax climbed 68% to A$13.5 million.
Earnings per share reached A$0.0265.
Two caveats sit behind those figures.
Civmec noted that the comparative quarter suffered from project award delays, which flattered the growth rate.
EBITDA margin also slipped to 11.4% from 12.1%, so the group converted a much larger workload at a thinner rate.
The order book tells the forward story.
It stood at A$1.3 billion, up more than 70% from A$760 million a year ago.
BHP’s Port Debottlenecking Project 2, Iluka’s Eneabba Rare Earths Refinery and Chevron’s Gorgon module package fed the quarter’s revenue.
Civmec paid an interim dividend of A$0.025 per share, fully franked, on 10 April 2026.
The payment matched the prior year.
Profit rose 68%, and the dividend held flat.
Dividend investors face a gap here.
The quarterly update carried no cash flow statement and no balance sheet, so free cash flow, cash and debt were not disclosed.
The group did report a net tangible asset value of A$1.05 per share.
Property, plant and equipment of A$564.3 million sits behind that figure.
What did Info-Tech’s 29% revenue growth buy shareholders?
Info-Tech sells cloud-based accounting and human resource management software to small and medium-sized enterprises across Singapore, Malaysia and other regional markets.
FY2025 revenue rose 29% YoY to S$56.5 million from S$43.7 million.
Higher Academy training revenue in the second half and continued subscription growth drove the increase.
Profit attributable to owners rose 22% to S$15.0 million after the group absorbed roughly S$2.9 million in one-off IPO listing and Malaysia office relocation costs.
Strip those out, and adjusted profit after tax rose 46% to S$18.0 million.
The balance sheet strengthened.
Cash and cash equivalents reached S$67.3 million as at 31 December 2025 against S$29.7 million a year earlier.
Net IPO proceeds drove that jump.
The group carries no interest-bearing debt and S$4.0 million of lease liabilities.
Free cash flow fell to S$15.7 million from S$17.6 million.
A build-up in receivables and higher capital expenditure held it back.
The board declared a second interim dividend of S$0.0155 per share and proposed a final dividend of S$0.0195, taking total FY2025 dividends to S$0.0350 per share.
Get Smart: What Did the Market Pay For?
A share price answers two questions at once.
It prices the result a company just reported, and it prices the runway investors believe sits ahead of it.
Separating the two takes work, and the second question carries the higher risk of disappointment.
All three of these companies gave investors a reason to reprice the runway.
Not one of them showed free cash flow rising alongside profit.
Two reported a decline, and the third disclosed no cash flow at all.
Micro-Mechanics reports on 26 August 2026.
Civmec and Info-Tech have yet to confirm dates and are expected to report during August 2026.
Those results will show whether the cash caught up with the price.
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Disclosure: Calvina L. does not own shares of any stocks mentioned. Chin Hui Leong contributed to the article and owns shares of Micro-Mechanics.
