Christmas is almost upon us, and it will once again be a merry time to celebrate with family and friends.
But what will make the holiday season even more festive is if you received a bunch of dividends from your investments.
Dividends are not only a tangible return on your investment but also act as a stream of passive income that can sustain you through your retirement.
If you are an income-seeking investor, you’re in luck.
The Singapore market has a plethora of REITs and dividend-paying companies that you can choose from.
What’s more, some of these well-known businesses have been paying dividends for a decade or more.
Here are seven dividend stocks that could qualify to be on your buy watchlist.
Singapore Exchange Limited (SGX: S68)
Singapore Exchange Limited, or SGX, is Singapore’s sole stock exchange operator.
The group has been a steady payer of dividends for over two decades.
Back in fiscal 2001 (FY2001 ending 30 June), SGX paid out a dividend of S$0.055.
Fast forward to FY2022 and this dividend has increased to S$0.32, giving the bourse operator’s shares a trailing dividend yield of 3.5%.
SGX reported a decent set of earnings for FY2022, with revenue up 4% year on year to S$1.1 billion and net profit inching up 1% year on year to S$451 million.
DBS Group (SGX: D05)
DBS needs no introduction, being Singapore’s largest bank by market capitalisation.
The bank has been a solid payer of dividends all this while and back in FY2001, it paid out just S$0.26 in dividends.
Jumping ahead to today, the bank’s trailing 12-month dividend has increased significantly to S$1.44 per share.
Shares of the lender provide a trailing 12-month dividend yield of 4.3%.
DBS reported a sparkling set of earnings for its fiscal 2022’s third quarter (3Q2022), with its net profit at an all-time high of S$2.2 billion.
Parkway Life REIT (SGX: C2PU)
Parkway Life REIT is a healthcare REIT that owns 61 properties comprising three hospitals in Singapore and 57 nursing homes in Japan, along with strata-titled units of a specialist centre in Kuala Lumpur in Malaysia.
The REIT has been paying out steady dividends since its IPO back in FY2007.
Its annualised distribution per unit (DPU) in FY2007 was S$0.0632, and it has since more than doubled to S$0.1408 in FY2021.
The REIT has been paying out distributions for 15 solid years and looks set to continue.
For 3Q2022, gross revenue dipped by 1.3% year on year to S$89 million while net property income (NPI) inched up 0.1% year on year to S$82.8 million.
Mapletree Logistics Trust (SGX: M44U)
Mapletree Logistics Trust, or MLT, owns a portfolio of 186 properties across eight countries.
The REIT paid out a DPU of S$0.0507 for FY2006, its first full year of distributions after its listing.
12 years later, its DPU has increased to S$0.08787.
For the first half of FY2023, MLT reported a commendable performance and saw its DPU rise further by 4.2% year on year to S$0.04516.
Frasers Centrepoint Trust (SGX: J69U)
Frasers Centrepoint Trust, of FCT, is a retail REIT with a portfolio of nine suburban malls and an office building worth S$6.2 billion as of 30 September 2022 (FY2022).
For its first full year of distribution in FY2007, the REIT paid out a DPU of S$0.0655.
By FY2022, the DPU has nearly doubled to S$0.12227.
Units of the REIT offer a trailing distribution yield of 6%.
Hongkong Land Holdings Limited (SGX: H78)
Hongkong Land Holdings Limited, or HKL, is a property development, investment and management group that owns and manages more than 850,000 square metres of prime commercial and residential properties.
The group has been paying out consistent dividends for more than a decade.
Back in FY2011, the total dividend per share stood at US$0.16.
By FY2018, HKL’s annual dividend had increased to US$0.22 paid half-yearly and has remained constant since then despite the onset of the pandemic.
For the first half of 2022 (1H2022), the property giant reported an 8% year on year rise in underlying net profit to US$425 million.
Its interim dividend was kept constant at US$0.06 per share.
Sembcorp Industries Limited (SGX: U96)
Sembcorp Industries Limited, or SCI, is an energy and urban solutions provider.
The blue-chip utility group has been paying out dividends for more than two decades.
In FY1998, the group paid out a total dividend of S$0.025.
The annual dividend went as high as S$0.17 in FY2010 and FY2013 but hit a trough in FY2020 at S$0.04.
SCI has since reported a sterling set of earnings for 1H2022 and doubled its interim dividend.
Our team has spent decades scouring SGX for stocks. And we think dividends could be the answer to rising inflation and market uncertainty in 2023. With our newest FREE report, you’ll have everything you need to find, keep and make more money from dividend stocks. Click here to download it for free.
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Disclaimer: Royston Yang owns shares of DBS Group and Singapore Exchange Limited.
