Income investors can find a good variety of dividend-paying stocks on the local stock exchange.
REITs pay out a dependable dividend as they need to disburse at least 90% of their profits as distributions.
Many blue-chip and mid-cap stocks also dish out a reliable dividend to shareholders.
The key, though, is to look for companies that have raised their dividends.
With higher dividends, you can enjoy a larger stream of passive income flowing into your bank account.
Stocks that increase their dividends can also help you on your journey to compounding your wealth for retirement.
Here are four Singapore stocks that recently raised their dividends.
Civmec Limited (SGX: P9D)
Civmec is an integrated construction and engineering services provider headquartered in Western Australia.
The group serves the energy, resources, infrastructure, and marine sectors.
Civmec reported its latest fiscal 2023 (FY2023) earnings for the period ending 30 June 2023.
Revenue edged up 2.7% year on year to A$830.9 million with net profit climbing 13.7% year on year to A$57.7 million.
Operating cash flow also catapulted from A$1.8 million in FY2022 to A$95.2 million for FY2023, with free cash flow coming in at A$75.4 million for the current fiscal year.
The engineering firm upped its final dividend by 50% from A$0.02 to A$0.03, bringing FY2023’s dividend to A$0.05.
In addition, Civmec also grew its order book by 10.6% year on year to A$1.15 billion.
Management sees significant opportunities to grow its order book and is gearing up to enhance its maintenance offering to generate long-term sustainable revenue streams.
The group also intends to gain further accreditations to grow market share in large-scale infrastructure projects.
UMS Holdings Ltd (SGX: 558)
UMS provides equipment manufacturing and engineering services to original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) of semiconductors and related products.
The group reported a downbeat set of earnings for its fiscal 2023 first half (1H 2023) due to the ongoing downturn in the semiconductor industry.
Revenue dipped by 9% year on year to S$155.1 million while net profit fell by 27% year on year to S$29 million.
Despite the decline in net profit, UMS saw its free cash flow increase by 12.2% year on year to S$32.7 million.
The group raised its interim dividend by 20% from S$0.01 to S$0.012.
CEO Andy Luong maintained an optimistic outlook for 2023 as UMS’ performance benefitted from strong demand in the front-end semiconductor sector and contributions from its aerospace division.
Management believes that demand should start to stabilise in the third quarter.
UMS renewed its integrated system contract with its key customer until the end of 2025 and has also secured an in-principle agreement with a new customer for a renewable three-year contract.
SBS Transit (SGX: S61)
SBS Transit is a bus and rail operator that operates more than 200 bus services with a fleet of around 3,000 buses.
The group also operates the North East MRT Line, the Downtown MRT Line, and the Light Rail Systems in Punggol and Sengkang.
The bus operator also released its 1H 2023 earnings which saw revenue inch up 1.6% year on year to S$744.4 million.
Operating profit, however, plunged 16.1% year on year to S$36.1 million but net profit crept up 0.4% year on year to S$34.8 million.
The group’s free cash flow dipped by 11.6% year on year to S$47.8 million.
Despite the weaker numbers, SBS Transit increased its interim dividend from S$0.0545 to S$0.0558.
Looking ahead, revenue is projected to stabilise but the transport group cautions that inflation and a tight labour market may cause staff costs and energy expenses to rise.
Singapore Exchange Limited (SGX: S68)
Singapore Exchange Limited, or SGX, is Singapore’s sole stock exchange operator.
The group released a strong set of earnings for FY2023 as it posted both top and bottom-line growth.
Revenue rose 8.7% year on year to S$1.2 billion as SGX’s currencies and commodities franchises achieved record volumes.
Net profit jumped 26.5% year on year to S$570.9 million.
The bourse operator upped its quarterly dividend from S$0.08 to S$0.085, bringing its annualised full-year dividend to S$0.34.
Looking ahead, SGX is confident that its over-the-counter foreign exchange franchise will continue to do well.
This division achieved an average daily volume (ADV) of US$75.8 billion for FY2023 and is on track to hit an ADV of US$100 billion by FY2025 or earlier.
By the time your child grows up, inflation will have gobbled up their savings. If you not only want to protect their money but also grow it, there are 3 SGX stocks you can consider buying. One has already proven to give a 55.8% dividend pay rise. Get all the details in our latest special FREE report. Just click here.
Disclosure: Royston Yang owns shares of Singapore Exchange Limited.
