One of the most important attributes of a dividend stock is the reliability of its dividend.
This aspect depends on not just the business but also on the company’s track record of paying out dividends over the years.
Income investors should love such dependable dividend payers as it means such stocks deserve a place within their retirement portfolios.
I introduce four stocks within my portfolio that I believe can continue to pay out consistent dividends.
These stocks, which form the core of my income portfolio, qualify as stocks that I never plan to sell.
Boustead Singapore Limited (SGX: F9D)
Boustead Singapore Limited, or BSL, is a conglomerate with four distinct divisions – energy engineering, real estate, geospatial, and healthcare.
The engineering firm has shown itself to be a reliable payer of dividends over the years.
I have owned BSL since 2006 and the group has never failed to pay a dividend every fiscal year, even through the Global Financial Crisis and pandemic years.
For its latest fiscal 2024 (FY2024) earnings ending 31 March 2024, BSL saw revenue jump 37% year on year to S$767.6 million.
Gross profit climbed 44% year on year to S$226.7 million while net profit came in 42% higher than the previous year at S$64.2 million.
Core net profit, adjusted for one-off and exceptional items, doubled year on year from S$31.5 million to S$63.3 million.
The engineering conglomerate also generated healthy positive free cash flow for both fiscal years and has a history of generating consistent free cash flow to support its dividends.
A final dividend of S$0.04 was proposed, taking FY2024’s dividend to S$0.055, 37.5% higher than the S$0.04 paid out for FY2023.
BSL’s geospatial division set a new record for revenue and profitability and also boasted a record deferred services backlog of S$129 million as of 31 March 2024.
The group’s engineering backlog stood at around S$247 million at the end of FY2024.
Mapletree Industrial Trust (SGX: ME8U)
Mapletree Industrial Trust, or MIT, is an industrial REIT with a portfolio of 56 properties in the US, 83 in Singapore, and one in Japan.
These properties include business parks, flatted factories, data centres, and Hi-Tech buildings.
MIT has been a reliable payer of quarterly dividends since fiscal 2011 (FY2011) when it was listed.
Although the REIT sector is grappling with interest rate headwinds, MIT has proven resilient.
For FY2024, the REIT saw its gross revenue rise 1.8% year on year to S$697.3 million.
Net property income inched up 0.6% year on year to S$521 million but distribution per unit slipped by 1% year on year to S$0.1343.
Despite the slight decline in dividends, MIT maintained a healthy portfolio occupancy of 91.4% and registered positive rental reversions of 6.6% across its portfolio for renewal leases.
The REIT manager has also completed Phase Two of the fit-out works for the Osaka data centre which was acquired last year.
Singapore Exchange Limited (SGX: S68)
Singapore Exchange Limited, or SGX, is Singapore’s only stock exchange operator.
SGX enjoys a natural monopoly and maintains a platform for the buying and selling of a wide variety of securities such as equities, bonds, exchange-traded funds, and derivatives.
The group has a stellar track record of paying dividends since fiscal 2003 (FY2003) ending 30 June.
From FY2009 onwards, SGX’s annual dividend has steadily increased, going from S$0.26 to S$0.325 in FY2023.
The bourse operator pays out quarterly dividends, which means you can receive a flow of passive income into your bank account every three months.
For SGX’s recent results for the first half of fiscal 2024 (1H FY2024) ending 31 December 2023, the group reported a 3.6% year on year increase in revenue to S$592.2 million.
Underlying net profit after excluding exceptional items rose 6.2% year on year to S$251.4 million.
SGX upped its interim dividend from S$0.08 to S$0.085, translating into an annualised dividend of S$0.34, slightly higher than FY2023’s dividend of S$0.325.
Management is committed to growing its dividend per share by a mid-single-digit percentage in the medium term, subject to earnings growth.
VICOM Ltd (SGX: WJP)
VICOM is a leading test and inspection services player and provides a comprehensive range of inspection and testing services for vehicles and in fields such as mechanical, biochemical, and civil engineering.
VICOM has been a reliable dividend payer over the years.
For 2023, the inspection player’s revenue rose 3.3% year on year to S$111.9 million while its net profit increased by 5.4% year on year to S$27.6 million.
The group also generated a positive free cash flow of S$18.9 million for 2023, 14.5% higher than the S$16.5 million churned out a year ago.
However, VICOM’s final dividend was reduced from S$0.0332 to S$0.0275 as the group needed to retain cash for a major investment in a new test and inspection centre at Jalan Papan.
2023’s dividend totalled S$0.055, down from the previous year’s S$0.0664.
For the first quarter of 2024 (1Q 2024), revenue edged up 1% year on year to S$28 million while net profit increased by 1.3% year on year to S$6.9 million.
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Disclosure: Royston Yang owns all the stocks mentioned in this article.
