Investors are in the thick of the first earnings season of 2024.
The REIT sector kicked off the reporting season late last month followed by several of the blue-chip stocks.
We throw the spotlight on several promising blue-chip companies that reported solid sets of earnings.
This is despite the tough macroeconomic conditions resulting from a higher interest rate environment along with surging inflation.
Here are three blue-chip stocks that not only remained resilient but also posted an encouraging financial performance.
Keppel Ltd (SGX: BN4)
Keppel is a global asset manager that provides critical infrastructure and services for renewables, clean energy, sustainable urban renewal, and connectivity.
The group operates in more than 20 countries worldwide.
For its first quarter of 2024’s (1Q 2024) business update, Keppel saw its net profit improve year on year if the effects of its legacy offshore and marine asset business were excluded.
Both its infrastructure and connectivity segments reported a year-on-year increase in net profit.
Revenue came in at S$1.5 billion for 1Q 2024, in line with the S$1.6 billion reported a year ago.
Importantly, Keppel saw its recurring income shoot up 51% year on year, driven by higher contributions from asset management and operating income.
Asset management fees for 1Q 2024 leapt 52% year on year to S$88 million with the bulk (S$40 million) coming from the infrastructure division.
The group also received clearance from the European regulator to close its acquisition of an initial 50% stake in Aermont Capital.
Year-to-date, Keppel has achieved S$170 million in asset monetisation, taking the total since October 2020 to more than S$5.5 billion.
The group is targeting total asset monetisation of between S$10 billion to S$12 billion by 2026.
There could be more growth in store.
Keppel currently has 19 active private funds and plans to launch three new funds for data centres, education assets, and private credit this year.
The asset manager is also partnering with Mitsui Fudosan to explore data centre development and is pursuing a quality deal flow pipeline of over S$14 billion.
At the same time, Keppel is expanding its energy portfolio with its Sakra Cogen Plant being 51% completed as of end-March 2024.
The group is also implementing real estate-as-a-service with sustainable urban renewal initiatives across nine projects with a combined asset value of S$7.9 billion.
CapitaLand Investment Limited (SGX: 9CI)
CapitaLand Investment Limited, or CLI, is a real estate investment manager with a portfolio comprising S$134 billion of assets under management (AUM) and S$100 billion of funds under management (FUM) as of 1Q 2024.
For its latest quarter, CLI reported revenue of S$650 million, relatively unchanged from S$651 million in the prior year.
Listed fund management fee-related earnings (FRE) rose 4% year on year to S$74 million.
However, this was offset by a 13% year-on-year decline in private fund management FRE to S$27 million.
The decline was attributed to a 50% plunge in event-driven FRE; otherwise, recurring FRE was stable year on year.
Over at its lodging management division, FRE climbed 8% year on year from S$76 million to S$82 million with more than 4,600 units signed across 22 properties in 1Q 2024.
CLI plans to ramp up its investments and scale its network in Southeast Asia and India with a view to achieving S$200 billion in FUM over the next five years.
The group is also planning to recycle at least S$3 billion of capital annually.
Mapletree Industrial Trust (SGX: J69U)
Mapletree Industrial Trust, or MIT, is an industrial REIT with total AUM of S$8.9 billion as of 31 March 2024.
Its portfolio comprises 56 properties in the US, 83 in Singapore, and one in Japan.
The REIT pulled off an admirable performance for its latest quarter which is the fourth quarter of its fiscal 2024 (4Q FY2024) ending 31 March 2024.
Revenue rose 4.4% year on year to S$178.7 million while net property income increased by 2.2% year on year to S$131.8 million.
Distribution per unit (DPU) inched up 0.9% year on year to S$0.0336.
For the full fiscal year, however, DPU was marginally down by 1% year on year at S$0.1343 because of higher finance costs and a larger base of units.
MIT recorded a high occupancy rate of 91.4% across its portfolio for 4Q FY2024 and logged positive rental reversions of 6.6% for renewal leases.
Aggregate leverage stood at 38.7%, giving the REIT ample debt headroom to take on more debt for accretive acquisitions.
Close to 85% of the REIT’s loans are pegged to fixed rates, helping it to mitigate a further rise in finance costs.
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Disclosure: Royston Yang owns shares of Mapletree Industrial Trust.
