It’s a joy to receive a dividend that’s deposited directly into your bank account.
This form of passive income can be built steadily by slowly accumulating dividend-paying stocks.
However, there’s something even better than receiving a dividend, and that’s receiving it every three months.
Yes, I am talking about companies that pay out dividends every quarter.
While such companies are a rarity, here are three that do so that could be perfect for an income investor’s buy watchlist.
iFAST Corporation (SGX: AIY)
iFAST Corporation is a financial technology (fintech) company operating a platform for the buying and selling of unit trusts, equities, and bonds.
The group has been paying out steadily increasing dividends every quarter in the last few years as its business grows by leaps and bounds.
Net revenue went from S$113.9 million to S$248.4 million from 2021 to 2024, while net profit more than doubled over this period from S$30.6 million to S$66.6 million.
iFAST’s dividend per share also increased in tandem, going from S$0.048 to S$0.059.
For the first quarter of 2025 (1Q 2025), the group continued to report a stellar set of earnings.
Net revenue rose 16.5% year on year to S$67.7 million while operating profit climbed 29% year on year to S$23.8 million.
Net profit surged 31.2% year on year to S$19 million.
iFAST also enjoyed healthy net inflows of S$938 million for the quarter, which helped to increase the group’s assets under administration (AUA) to a record high of S$25.68 billion as of 31 March 2025.
For the first interim dividend of this year, iFAST raised it from S$0.013 to S$0.016, reflecting the growth of the underlying business.
Back in May, iFAST was granted a trust business licence by the Monetary Authority of Singapore.
This news marks the expansion of the group’s wealth management capabilities to support clients across the entire wealth life cycle from accumulation and growth to preservation and legacy planning.
Meanwhile, iFAST’s US subsidiary also received approval for direct access to US stock exchanges, thereby enhancing the services that it provides to its customers.
Management expects the business to witness robust growth rates in revenue and profitability compared with 2024.
The core wealth management business should see increases in its AUA while its digital banking division is projected to report a full year of profitability for 2025.
Singapore Exchange Limited (SGX: S68)
Singapore Exchange Limited, or SGX, is Singapore’s sole stock exchange operator.
The blue-chip group operates a platform for the buying and selling of a wide array of securities such as derivatives, bonds, equities, commodities, and currencies.
The bourse operator reported a solid set of earnings for the first half of fiscal 2025 (1H FY2025) ending 31 December 2024.
Net revenue climbed 15.6% year on year to S$646.4 million.
Net profit (excluding one-off items) leapt 27.3% year on year to S$320.1 million.
In line with the strong performance, SGX upped its quarterly dividend from S$0.085 to S$0.09.
SGX’s annualised dividend per share has risen from S$0.34 to S$0.36.
The group has reported stellar growth in June 2025 with double-digit gains for both derivatives volume and securities turnover.
For FY2025 ending 30 June 2025, derivatives volume climbed 17% year on year to 315.8 million contracts while securities turnover grew 28% year on year to S$336.4 billion.
Securities daily average value shot up 27% year on year to S$1.3 billion.
Management is optimistic about achieving a 6% to 8% growth in revenue in the medium term.
Dividend per share growth is also projected at mid-single-digit compound annual growth rate in the medium term.
DBS Group (SGX: D05)
DBS is Singapore’s largest bank by market capitalisation.
The group offers a comprehensive range of banking, insurance, and investment services to its clients.
1Q 2025 saw the bank report a mixed set of earnings.
Total income rose 6% year on year to S$5.9 billion on the back of a 2% year-on-year increase in commercial book net interest income to S$3.7 billion.
Net profit, however, dipped by 2% year on year to S$2.9 billion because of the imposition of a global minimum tax rate of 15%.
Despite the lower net profit, DBS declared a core quarterly dividend of S$0.60 along with a capital return dividend of S$0.15, taking the total 1Q 2025 dividend to S$0.75.
This dividend is a sharp 39% year-on-year increase over 1Q 2024’s quarterly dividend of S$0.54.
Looking ahead, DBS should benefit from the “higher for longer” interest rate regime as the US Federal Reserve is hesitant to reduce rates until it witnesses inflation declining to the 2% target.
Trump’s tariffs could also reignite inflation and stay the central bank’s hand.
Notwithstanding these uncertainties, DBS has identified new growth corridors and sectors and also sees continued wealth inflows which should benefit its non-interest income.
As the STI hits record highs, long-term investors are asking: can dividends keep up?
In this special National Day webinar, we dive into the earnings outlook for Singapore’s top dividend stocks and what to expect in the months ahead. Secure your free seat here and stay ahead of the curve.
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Disclosure: Royston Yang owns shares of DBS Group, Singapore Exchange and iFAST Corporation.
