With the earnings season concluding last week, investors can sit back and review the numerous financial and business updates.
The blue-chip segment has done well this round with many companies reporting higher revenue, profits, and cash flows.
Some of these blue-chip stocks have also increased their dividends in line with their good performance.
We sift out four of these companies that can offer you a great mix of growth and dividends to help you achieve a solid total return on your investment portfolio.
DBS Group (SGX: D05)
DBS is Singapore’s largest bank by market capitalisation and offers a wide range of banking, insurance, and investment services.
The lender recently delivered a commendable set of earnings for the first half of 2024 (1H 2024).
Net interest income rose 6% year on year to S$7.4 billion, buoyed by the elevated interest rate environment.
The bank’s loan book also inched up 2% year on year to S$424.8 billion.
With fee and commission income climbing 25% year on year, DBS’s total income increased by 11% year on year to S$11 billion.
The bank’s net profit improved by 10% year on year to S$5.7 billion.
An interim dividend of S$0.54 was declared for the quarter, 22.7% higher than the S$0.44 paid out in the prior year.
CEO Piyush Gupta believes that DBS can achieve a mid-single-digit net interest income growth for 2024.
Fee income is projected to increase in the low-to-high teens percentage year on year and net profit should rise by a mid-to-high single-digit percentage year on year.
Keppel Ltd (SGX: BN4)
Keppel is a global asset manager and operator offering solutions spanning the infrastructure, real estate, and connectivity sectors.
For 1H 2024, Keppel saw its revenue decline by 13% year on year to S$3.2 billion, with the bulk of the decline coming from its Infrastructure and Real Estate divisions.
Operating profit fell by 12% year on year to S$506 million.
However, core net profit from continuing operations rose 7% year on year to S$513 million.
An interim dividend of S$0.15 was declared, unchanged from a year ago.
Keppel reported that its recurring income saw a 14% year-on-year increase to S$388 million, with around three-quarters of 1H 2024’s net profit being recurring, underpinned by Infrastructure and Connectivity earnings.
Its asset management arm enjoyed healthy growth, too.
Funds under management went from S$55 billion at the end of last year to S$85 billion at the end of June 2024, aided by the acquisition of Aermont Capital.
Asset management fees performed even better with a 75% year-on-year surge to S$203 million.
Keppel also achieved annual cost savings of over S$50 million since the beginning of 2023 and is on track to reach its S$60 million to S$70 million annual cost savings target by 2026.
SATS Ltd (SGX: S58)
SATS is an air cargo and ground handler and provides Asian food solutions to airlines, food service chains, and retailers.
The group reported a strong set of results for its fiscal 2024 (FY2024) ending 31 March 2024.
Revenue nearly tripled year on year from S$1.76 billion to S$5.1 billion and the ground handler generated an operating profit of S$244.2 million.
Core net profit stood at S$78.5 million for FY2024, up more than fourfold year on year from S$18.2 million back in FY2023.
The strong results were attributed to the consolidation of Worldwide Flight Services which SATS acquired back in 2022.
The group proposed a final dividend of S$0.015.
SATS announced last month that it partnered with Mitsui Co Ltd (TYO: 8031) to grow the former’s Food Solutions business.
In the same month, SATS also restructured its Gateway Services division and split it into two business units – the Singapore hub and Gateway Services Asia-Pacific.
This rejig is to enable SATS to continue investing in Singapore while scaling its international presence.
Singapore Exchange Limited (SGX: S68)
Singapore Exchange Limited, or SGX, is Singapore’s only stock exchange operator.
The group released a solid set of earnings for its fiscal 2024 (FY2024) ending 30 June 2024.
Revenue edged up 3.1% year on year to S$1.2 billion.
Net profit excluding exceptional items came in at S$525.9 million and was up 4.5% year on year.
The bourse operator increased its quarterly dividend by S$0.005 to S$0.09, taking its annualised dividend to S$0.36.
SGX is seeing healthy growth in its derivatives and OTC FX (over-the-counter foreign exchange) divisions.
The daily average volume for derivatives increased from one million in FY2023 to 1.1 million in FY2024.
OTC FX saw the headline average daily volume jump from US$76 billion to US$111 billion over the same period.
Looking ahead, SGX plans to realise synergies between its ferrous and freight offerings to drive the next phase of growth for its Commodities division.
The group will also look for growth opportunities for its FX franchise and seek out more clients in both Asia and Europe.
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Disclosure: Royston Yang owns shares of DBS Group and the Singapore Exchange.
