Blue-chip stocks should form the bedrock of investors’ portfolios as they exhibit long track records and study business models.
Their reliability and ability to pay out consistent dividends not only allow you to sleep well at night but also provide you with a steady stream of passive income.
A good way to look for great investment ideas is to scour the investment landscape for stocks that are breaching their 52-week highs.
This optimism should point to something going right with the business and offer good ideas on what you may wish to purchase.
Here are three dependable Singapore blue-chip stocks that recently scaled new 52-week highs.
Singtel (SGX: Z74)
Singtel is Singapore’s largest telecommunication company (telco) by market capitalisation.
Shares of the telco have done well, surging by 45% in the past year and are up nearly 10% year-to-date (YTD), hitting their 52-week high of S$3.43.
Singtel reported an encouraging business update for its third quarter of fiscal 2025 (3Q FY2025) ending 31 December 2024.
For the first nine months of fiscal 2025 (9M FY2025), operating revenue remained flat year on year at S$10.6 billion.
Underlying operating profit, however, increased by almost 13% year on year to S$1.1 billion.
Underlying net profit improved by 11.3% year on year to S$1.87 billion.
Singtel’s regional associates saw their combined net profit rise 4% year on year for 9M FY2025, driven by higher contributions from India and Thailand.
The group reported progress towards its ST28 strategy in 3Q FY2025.
Singtel was the first in Singapore to deploy the 700 MHz spectrum, boosting its 5G coverage.
The telco also met its full-year cost savings target early in 9M FY2025.
Over at its Australian unit Optus, there was a 4% year on year growth in postpaid average revenue per user (ARPU).
Management has provided a total ordinary dividend guidance of around S$0.165 for FY2025 that includes both core dividends and value realisation dividends.
If Singtel does pay out this dividend, it will be higher than FY2024’s total dividend of S$0.15.
The group will continue its recycling efforts to fund these dividends and there is no change in the identified pipeline of around S$6 billion earmarked for recycling.
Sembcorp Industries (SGX: U96)
Sembcorp Industries, or SCI, is a leading energy and urban solutions provider providing sustainable solutions to support energy transition.
The group owns a balanced energy portfolio of 25.1 GW across 11 countries along with urban development projects spanning 14,400 hectares across Asia.
SCI’s share price has done well, rising by 23.7% in a year.
YTD, the utility group’s share price has climbed 13.4% to touch its 52-week high of S$6.32.
For 2024, SCI reported a mixed set of earnings.
Revenue fell by 9% year on year to S$6.4 billion, principally due to the major planned maintenance of a cogeneration plant in Singapore and a 34% year-on-year decline in wholesale electricity prices.
Net profit (before exceptional items) remained flat year on year at S$1 billion.
However, CEO Wong Kim Yin expressed optimism about SCI’s performance, believing that the group can deliver sustainable returns.
In line with this belief, the group more than doubled its final dividend from S$0.08 to S$0.17.
SCI is a leading power provider to data centres, capturing over one-third of the demand.
Its recent acquisition of a 30% stake in Senoko Energy for S$96 million is complementary to its existing portfolio and enhances the group’s ability to support Singapore’s energy transition.
The group also has a 600 MW hydrogen-ready gas-fired power plant on track for completion by the end of 2026.
SCI also made considerable progress in growing its Renewables portfolio, with gross renewables capacity increasing by 4.1 GW since the end of 2023.
The utility group is on track to hit its target of gross renewables capacity of 25 GW by 2028, and is at 17 GW as of February 2025.
Singapore Technologies Engineering (SGX: S63)
Singapore Technologies Engineering, or STE, is an engineering and technology giant that serves customers in the aerospace, smart city, and defence sectors.
STE’s share price surged nearly 30% year-to-date and hit its 52-week high of S$6.03 recently.
The engineering giant reported a stellar set of earnings for 2024.
Revenue rose 11.6% year on year to S$11.3 billion while operating profit climbed 17.7% year on year to S$1.1 billion.
Net profit stood at S$702.3 million, up nearly 20% year on year.
STE’s free cash flow more than doubled year on year from S$562.6 million to S$1.17 billion.
In tandem with the good results, STE upped its final dividend from S$0.04 last year to S$0.05, taking its 2024 dividend to S$0.17, one cent above the S$0.16 paid out last year.
A total of S$12.6 billion in new contracts were secured in 2024, taking the group’s order book to S$28.5 billion as of 31 December 2024.
Of this order book, S$8.8 billion is expected to be delivered in 2025.
STE continues to invest in growth by increasing capacity and capabilities through its Gul shipyard and fourth data centre.
It is also expanding the markets it targets by setting up a smart city platform in Lusail City, Qatar.
The group also snagged its first TransCore tolling solution win in Southeast Asia.
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Disclosure: Royston Yang does not own shares in any of the companies mentioned.
