Gong Xi Fa Cai to all our Chinese readers as we welcome the Year of The Snake!
The Snake Year promises to be an interesting one as we await the first earnings season of 2025.
Investors will be keeping their eyes peeled for companies that demonstrate strong earnings growth
Dividends should also be on the top of the list as income investors look for reliable sources of passive income.
Here are four Singapore stocks that are well-positioned to see their share prices rise in 2025.
Riverstone Holdings (SGX: AP4)
Riverstone is a manufacturer of nitrile and natural rubber clean room gloves used in highly-controlled environments as well as premium nitrile gloves used in the healthcare industry.
The group owns six manufacturing facilities in Malaysia (4), Thailand (1), and China (1) with an annual production capacity of 10.5 billion gloves.
Riverstone reported a strong set of earnings for the first nine months of 2024 (9M 2024).
Revenue rose 16% year on year to RM 794.8 million while gross profit jumped 46.8% year on year to RM 300.3 million.
Gross profit margin climbed from 29.9% in the previous corresponding period to 37.8% in 9M 2024.
Net profit stood at RM 216.9 million, nearly 42% higher than the previous year.
The glove maker also generated a positive free cash flow of RM 190.3 million, surging 40.2% from a year ago.
An interim dividend of RM 0.04 was declared, taking the total dividend paid for 9M 2024 to RM 0.12.
There could be more to come from the glove maker as the group is on track to increase its capacity to cater to growing demand from the recovering semiconductor and electronics industries.
Riverstone is building six new single production lines focusing on customised healthcare gloves.
Another six clean room lines were commissioned at the end of last year while three of the healthcare lines will be ready by the first quarter of 2025 (1Q 2025).
iFAST Corporation (SGX: AIY)
iFAST is a financial technology company operating a platform for the buying and selling of unit trusts, equities, and bonds.
Like Riverstone, iFAST also announced a robust set of earnings for 9M 2024 as both revenue and profits soared.
Net revenue surged 75.5% year on year to S$183.5 million, buoyed by increased revenue recognition from the Hong Kong ePension project.
Net profit more than tripled year on year to S$47.4 million.
The fintech’s assets under administration also hit a new high of S$23.62 billion, driven by net inflows of S$2.29 billion in 9M 2024.
An interim dividend of S$0.015 was declared, higher than the prior year’s S$0.013 dividend.
2025 should be an interesting year for iFAST as its ePension division continues to contribute higher revenue and earnings.
Management also expects the group’s overall wealth management platform to show healthy progress.
There is also iFAST Global Bank, the group’s digital bank division.
This division is expected to become an important growth driver for the group this year as customer deposits more than doubled year on year to S$805.63 million as of 30 September 2024.
Nanofilm Technologies (SGX: MZH)
Nanofilm Technologies is a provider of nanotechnology and technology-based solutions across a wide range of industries.
The group’s 3Q 2024 business update showed encouraging progress with revenue rising 10% year on year to S$60 million for the quarter.
On a 9M 2024 basis, Nanofilm’s revenue increased by 12% year on year to S$143 million.
The group also reversed the loss recognised in the first half of 2024 and was profitable for both 3Q 2024 and 9M 2024.
On the consumer front, Nanofilm expanded its customer base by supporting the flagship products of top global players.
Its industrial segment penetrated into the European market and sees good growth opportunities coming from a low base.
CEO Gary Ho is confident of achieving higher revenue and profits for 2024.
Nanofilm will continue to optimise its cost structure through operational excellence and improve productivity to yield better margins.
Micro-Mechanics (Holdings) (SGX: 5DD)
Micro-Mechanics (Holdings), or MMH, is a supplier of high precision tools and parts used in the wafer fabrication and assembly processes of the semiconductor industry.
MMH released an encouraging set of earnings recently and hinted at better days to come.
For the first half of fiscal 2025 (1H FY2025) ending 31 December 2024, revenue increased 10.8% year on year to S$32.5 million.
Gross margin improved slightly year on year, going from 47.5% in 1H FY2024 to 49.1% in 1H FY2025.
Net profit climbed 46.6% year on year to S$6 million.
MMH’s free cash flow also shot up 48.4% year on year to S$8.4 million.
The parts and tools manufacturer declared an interim dividend of S$0.03, unchanged from a year ago.
The group remains cautiously optimistic about the continued recovery of the semiconductor sector.
The World Semiconductor Trade Statistics (WSTS) forecasts an 11.2% year-on-year increase in global semiconductor sales to US$697 billion for 2025.
MMH should see its business enjoy an uplift from the WSTS projection.
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Disclosure: Royston Yang owns shares of iFAST Corporation and Micro-Mechanics.
