During times of uncertainty, investors should turn to blue-chip stocks for reliability and stability.
This category of stocks boasts long track records of weathering different economic conditions.
What’s more, blue-chip stocks also pay dividends, which provide a stream of useful passive income.
Here are five Singapore blue-chip stocks that you should feel confident can pay you dividends for the rest of your life.
DBS Group (SGX: D05)
DBS should be a familiar name to most investors, being Singapore’s largest bank by market capitalisation.
The lender reported a strong set of earnings for 2024 and upped its dividend at the same time.
Total income rose 10% year on year to S$22.3 billion on the back of a 5% year-on-year increase in net interest income.
Net profit for last year stood at S$11.3 billion, up 12% year on year and at a record high.
DBS declared a final dividend of S$0.60, up 22.4% year on year from the S$0.49 paid out a year ago.
With DBS being one of the key pillars of Singapore’s economy, investors can take heart that the bank will continue to pay dividends through good times and bad.
For 2025, management introduced a capital return dividend of S$0.15 per share per quarter to manage the bank’s excess capital.
Together with the quarterly core dividend of S$0.60, DBS should be paying out a total of S$0.75 per share per quarter for the whole of 2025.
Singapore Technologies Engineering (SGX: S63)
Singapore Technologies Engineering, or STE, is a technology and engineering group serving clients in the aerospace, smart city, defence, and public security sectors.
STE has a long history of paying out dividends to its shareholders.
For 2024, the engineering group reported a stellar set of earnings with revenue rising 11.6% year on year to S$11.3 billion.
Net profit climbed nearly 20% year on year to S$702.3 million.
A final dividend of S$0.05 was declared, taking the total dividend for 2024 to S$0.17, one cent above the previous year.
STE maintained a robust order book of S$28.5 billion as of 31 December 2024 and snagged a total of S$12.6 billion in contracts last year.
During the engineering group’s recent 2025 Investor Day, management communicated a new set of financial goals for 2029.
The group also introduced a progressive dividend growth plan.
2025 will see STE pay a total dividend of S$0.18, and from 2026 onwards, the group will pay out a third of its year-on-year increase in net profits as incremental dividends.
Singapore Exchange Limited (SGX: S68)
Singapore Exchange Limited, or SGX, is Singapore’s only stock exchange operator.
The bourse operator has an illustrious history of paying out dividends every single year since its IPO in 2000.
SGX reported a solid 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 exceptional items climbed 27.3% year on year to S$320.1 million.
In line with the good results, SGX upped its quarterly dividend from S$0.085 to S$0.09.
The bourse operator reported broad-based growth across all its revenue segments for 1H FY2025.
Management is optimistic that SGX can achieve its target of 6% to 8% per annum revenue growth in the medium term.
Should net profit increase in line with revenue, SGX should be in a strong positive position to continue paying out rising dividends.
Frasers Centrepoint Trust (SGX: J69U)
Frasers Centrepoint Trust, or FCT, is a retail REIT with a portfolio of nine suburban retail malls and an office building, all located in Singapore.
FCT’s assets under management (AUM) stood at around S$7.1 billion, and its retail division has approximately 2.7 million square feet of net lettable area (NLA).
A REIT is a reliable payer of dividends as it is required to pay out at least 90% of its earnings as distributions.
FCT delivered an admirable performance for the first half of fiscal 2025 (1H FY2025) ending 31 March 2025.
Gross revenue rose 7.1% year on year to S$184.4 million while net property income (NPI) increased by 7.3% year on year to S$133.7 million.
Distribution per unit inched up 0.5% year on year to S$0.06054.
FCT also reported solid operating metrics, with retail portfolio committed occupancy at 99.5%.
The REIT also enjoyed a positive rental reversion of 9% for 1H FY2025.
Looking ahead, FCT has commenced its asset enhancement initiative (AEI) for Hougang Mall that targets around 7% return on investment (ROI).
CapitaLand Ascendas REIT (SGX: A17U)
CapitaLand Ascendas REIT, or CLAR, is Singapore’s oldest industrial REIT and has a portfolio of 229 properties across Singapore, Australia, the US, Europe, and the UK.
The portfolio’s total AUM stood at S$16.8 billion as of 31 December 2024.
CLAR, like FCT, reported a commendable set of results that should sustain its distributions for the foreseeable future.
Gross revenue for 2024 rose 2.9% year on year to S$1.5 billion, while NPI edged up 2.6% year on year to S$1.05 billion.
DPU crept up 0.3% year on year to S$0.15205.
Like FCT, CLAR also reported strong operating metrics with portfolio occupancy at 92.8%.
The industrial REIT enjoyed a positive rental reversion of 11.6% for last year.
CLAR has eight ongoing projects involving AEIs, developments, and redevelopments to enhance the overall returns on its portfolio.
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Disclosure: Royston Yang owns shares of DBS Group and Singapore Exchange Limited.
