Income investors invest in stocks that pay out regular and dependable dividends.
Luckily, there is a wide variety of stocks on the Singapore Exchange that dish out dividends.
These dividends serve as a useful source of passive income that you can rely on during retirement.
What’s even more attractive are stocks that can steadily increase their dividends as their business grows and thrives.
Here are four Singapore stocks that recently upped their dividends and can provide income investors with an increased source of passive income.
Singapore Post (SGX: S08)
Singapore Post, or SingPost, is a postal and e-commerce logistics provider in the Asia Pacific region.
The group provides national and international postal services along with fulfilment and international freight forwarding to customers in more than 220 global locations.
Revenue for its fiscal 2024 (FY2024) ending 31 March 2024 dipped by nearly 10% year on year to S$1.7 billion mainly due to a decline in sea freight revenue.
Operating profit fell by 8.8% year on year to S$84.9 million but net profit more than tripled year on year to S$78.3 million because of an exceptional gain on upward property valuation.
Excluding this item, the underlying net profit for SingPost’s FY2024 would have improved by 28.1% year on year to S$41.5 million.
The postal group proposed a final dividend of S$0.0056, taking the total FY2024 dividend to S$0.0074, 27.6% higher than the S$0.0058 paid out a year ago.
Looking ahead, management plans to explore opportunities to monetise non-core businesses and reduce the group’s debt.
There will also be a focus on investing for growth to improve returns to shareholders.
SingPost’s dividend policy for FY2025 is to pay out 30% to 50% of underlying profits in line with earnings growth.
UMS Holdings (SGX: 558)
UMS provides equipment manufacturing and engineering services to original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) of semiconductors and related products.
For the first quarter of 2024 (1Q 2024), UMS’s revenue fell by 33% year on year to S$54 million because of weak semiconductor sales.
Both the group’s semiconductor integrated systems and components business experienced soft demand.
Net profit for 1Q 2024 plunged by 44% year on year to S$9.8 million.
The group generated a positive free cash flow of S$2.7 million, nearly 84% lower than the S$16.6 million churned out last year.
Despite the weaker results, UMS upped its interim dividend by 20% year on year to S$0.012.
Management is confident of a brighter outlook as prospects are lifted by potential additional business from a new customer.
Its new 300,000-square-foot factory in Penang was also recently completed for RM 250 million with production commencing in March 2024.
Singapore Airlines Limited (SGX: C6L)
Singapore Airlines Limited, or SIA, is Singapore’s flagship airline.
The blue-chip group saw total revenue increase by 7% year on year to S$19 billion for FY2024 with buoyant demand coming from North Asia as several countries fully reopened their borders.
Operating profit inched up 1.3% year on year to S$2.7 billion, a new high, while net profit climbed 24% year on year to S$2.7 billion, also setting a record.
The carrier generated a positive free cash flow of S$3.7 billion for the fiscal year.
A final dividend of S$0.38 was proposed, taking FY2024’s dividend to S$0.48, 26.3% higher than the S$0.38 paid out in FY2023.
SIA plans to redeem the remainder of the Mandatory Convertible Bonds (MCBs) that were issued in June 2021.
Management expects demand for air travel to remain healthy for the first quarter of fiscal 2025 (1Q FY2025).
Cargo demand should also be strong on the back of healthy e-commerce demand but management did warn of headwinds such as geopolitical tensions, high inflation, and supply chain constraints.
NetLink NBN Trust (SGX: CJLU)
NetLink NBN Trust designs, owns, and operates the passive network infrastructure of Singapore’s Nationwide Broadband Network (NBN).
The group reported a resilient set of earnings for FY2024.
Revenue edged up 1% year on year to S$206 million, buoyed by increased residential connections but offset by lower revenue from ancillary projects.
Net profit for FY2024 was 8% lower year on year at S$50.3 million principally because of a one-off, non-cash write-off of decommissioned network assets.
As this write-off is non-cash in nature, it had no impact on the trust’s distribution.
NetLink NBN Trust’s distribution per unit (DPU) rose 1.1% year on year to S$0.0265.
FY2024 saw residential and non-residential connections increase by 1.5% and 2.7% year on year, respectively, to 1.51 million and 53,500.
Management will focus on growing its segment and non-building address points (NBAP) connections in FY2025 in line with the government’s Smart Nation initiatives.
The group also plans to complete the construction of its new central office to achieve operational readiness to serve Singapore’s northern region.
Boost your portfolio’s returns with 5 SGX stocks that promise both stability and steady growth. We bring you the names of these rock-solid stocks, including why they could drive massive dividends over the next few years. If you’re looking to invest for retirement, this guide is a must-read. Click HERE to download now.
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Disclosure: Royston Yang owns shares of NetLink NBN Trust.
