Some of you may have enjoyed a windfall when you received your bonus for 2024.
Having an additional sum of money is always a happy event as you can use it to enjoy life’s pleasures or to invest in to grow your retirement pot of gold.
Blue-chip stocks are a great place to park some of this bonus if you are looking for stability amid a chaotic world with Trump’s recent tariff announcement.
Such stocks have long track records of weathering different types of economic conditions.
Here are four promising blue-chip stocks I plan to buy if I had an extra S$20,000.
DBS Group (SGX: D05)
DBS is no stranger to most Singaporeans, being Singapore’s largest bank by market capitalisation.
The lender has weathered numerous economic storms and has a solid track record of growing its earnings and dividends.
2024 saw DBS’s total income rise 10% year on year to S$22.3 billion, led by a 5% year-on-year increase in commercial book net interest income to S$15 billion.
Net profit came in at a record-high of S$11.3 billion, up 12% year on year.
DBS declared a higher quarterly dividend of S$0.60, up from S$0.49 a year ago.
For 2024, DBS’s total dividend stood at S$2.22, up 27% year on year from S$1.75.
For 2025, DBS plans to introduce a capital return dividend of S$0.15 per share per quarter to be paid throughout the current year.
Back in November last year, the bank also established a new share buyback programme worth S$3 billion whereby shares purchased in the open market will be cancelled.
Management expects a slight decline in net interest margin for 2025, but this will be offset by loan growth.
Non-interest income should also grow by high single digits year on year for this year.
SATS Ltd (SGX: S58)
SATS is a provider of air cargo handling services and is also Asia’s leading airline caterer.
Following SATS’ acquisition of Worldwide Flight Services (WFS) back in 2023, the group’s combined network comprises more than 215 stations in 27 countries.
SATS reported a stellar set of earnings for the first nine months of fiscal 2025 (9M FY2025) ending 31 December 2024.
Revenue rose 14% year on year to S$4.3 billion while operating profit more than doubled year on year to S$367.4 million.
Net profit stood at S$205.1 million for 9M FY2025, up more than eightfold year on year from S$23.7 million in the previous corresponding period.
The ground handler also generated a positive free cash flow of S$48.8 million for the period.
The International Air Transport Association (IATA) anticipates an 8% year-on-year increase in global passenger traffic for 2025, which should support SATS’ food and ground handling businesses.
This month alone, SATS announced two promising business developments.
The group plans to undertake an extensive, S$40 million upgrade of Marina Bay Cruise Centre Singapore.
WFS was awarded a new five-year cargo handling contract with the cargo arm of the world’s largest international airline, Emirates SkyCargo, at Frankfurt Airport.
Singapore Exchange (SGX: S68)
Singapore Exchange, or SGX, is Singapore’s sole stock exchange operator.
The group announced a robust set of financial results for the first half of fiscal 2025 (1H FY2025) ending 31 December 2024.
Net operating revenue rose 15.6% year on year to S$646.4 million.
Net profit excluding one-off items climbed 27.3% year on year to S$320.1 million.
The bourse operator upped its quarterly dividend from S$0.085 to S$0.09, taking its annualised dividend per share to S$0.36.
Higher investment flows led to a 31.2% year-on-year jump in cash equities SDAV (securities daily average volume).
Over at its derivatives division, daily average volume (DAV) climbed 20.1% year on year with broader participation amid global market volatility.
SGX’s forex derivatives and iron ore contracts are also doing well, registering year-on-year volume increases.
Management is optimistic about achieving its mid-term target of growing revenue by 6% to 8% per annum.
SGX will continue to grow its multi-asset offering and look to onboard more clients.
Venture Corporation (SGX: V03)
Venture Corporation is a provider of technology products, services, and solutions.
The group serves over 100 global companies and has customers in domains such as life sciences, healthcare, and luxury lifestyle.
Venture reported a downbeat set of earnings for 2024 as the semiconductor downturn continued to drag on.
Revenue dipped by 9.6% year on year to S$2.7 billion while net profit tumbled 9.3% year on year to S$245 million.
Despite the lower profit, Venture generated healthy free cash flow of S$465.7 million, slipping just 1.6% year on year.
The contract manufacturer also maintained its final dividend of S$0.50, taking 2024’s total dividend to S$0.75, unchanged from a year ago.
The board has approved the acceleration of the group’s share buyback plan for the remainder of 8.3 million shares.
Venture is also advancing its growth initiatives.
The group secured new product wins and is expanding its share in the Test & Instrumentation technology domain.
It is also developing next-generation instruments for applications such as cell and gene therapy.
Venture is gunning for growth this year and plans to make investments to augment its capabilities and to explore various opportunities to support growth.
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Disclosure: Royston Yang owns shares of DBS Group and Singapore Exchange.
