The Straits Times Index (SGX: ^STI) slipped roughly 2% in April 2026, and a familiar trio sat at the wrong end of the table.
Singapore Telecommunications (SGX: Z74), or Singtel, led the laggards with a total return of around -8.4%, followed closely by Jardine Matheson Holdings (SGX: J36), or JMH, at -7.9% and Jardine Cycle & Carriage (SGX: C07), or JC&C, at -7.8%.
What’s curious is that all three reported underlying profit growth in their most recent results.
So why did the market sell them off?
The answer says less about the headline numbers, and more about what investors are watching beneath them.
Singtel: Strong Associates, Weak Domestic Core
Singtel’s third-quarter results for the financial year ending 31 March 2026 (3QFY2026) looked solid on the surface.
Operating revenue rose 0.9% year on year (YoY) to S$3.7 billion, while operating profit climbed 5.3% YoY to S$362 million.
Underlying net profit advanced 9.5% YoY to S$744 million, helped by a 15.4% increase in the share of regional associates’ post-tax profits, led by Bharti Airtel and AIS.
Look closer, though, and the picture is mixed.
Singtel Singapore – the home market – saw operating profit fall 9.7% YoY, with mobile service revenue dropping 11% on intense price competition and lower roaming revenue.
Group growth, in other words, is leaning heavily on associates and the IT services arm NCS, where operating profit jumped 32% and bookings reached S$855 million for the quarter.
For dividend investors, there was a clear positive: the 1HFY2026 interim dividend of S$0.082 per share marked a 17.1% increase YoY.
Singtel also recycled S$1.5 billion in net proceeds from the sale of a 0.8% direct stake in Airtel during the quarter.
Jardine Matheson: Profits Up, Outlook Flat
A similar story of headline growth with underlying complications unfolded for JMH.
Its FY2025 results covering the year ended 31 December 2025 saw revenue dip 4% YoY to US$34.2 billion, weighed down by softer contributions from Astra International amid a weaker Indonesian rupiah and challenging macro conditions.
Yet underlying net profit rose 11% to US$1.7 billion, helped by stronger contributions from DFI Retail (+35%), Jardine Pacific (+28%) and JC&C excluding Astra (+56%).
Free cash flow climbed 9% YoY to US$4.0 billion.
Its balance sheet also improved meaningfully.
The JMH parent ended the year in a net cash position of US$41 million, reversing net borrowings of US$1.3 billion a year earlier, after recycling US$4.8 billion of capital across the group.
The full-year dividend of US$2.35 represented a 4% YoY increase, with no special dividend declared.
Crucially, management guided FY2026 underlying earnings to be broadly in line with FY2025 (adjusted for disposals and the Zhongsheng reclassification), alongside a full-year dividend of at least US$2.45 per share.
Solid – but a flat earnings outlook offers little for the share price to re-rate against.
Jardine Cycle & Carriage: Reading Beneath the Headline
JC&C offers perhaps the cleanest illustration of how headline growth can mask softer underlying trends.
For FY2025, revenue fell 4% YoY to US$21.4 billion, while profit attributable to shareholders rose 5% to US$998 million.
Free cash flow improved 7% to US$2.1 billion, supported by US$3.2 billion of operating cash flow.
The drivers behind the profit increase, however, are worth dissecting.
Indonesia’s contribution dropped 8% YoY, with Astra hit by softer mining services, coal mining and new car sales amid intensified competition and a weaker rupiah.
Offsetting this were a 25% YoY improvement in Vietnam (stronger results from THACO and REE), higher Cycle & Carriage earnings in Singapore, a US$26 million foreign-exchange translation gain on corporate loans, and lower financing costs.
The full-year dividend of US$1.13 per share rose just 1% YoY – a reminder that dividends are tracking core earnings rather than the optical 5% profit lift.
Corporate net debt did fall to US$577 million from US$816 million, aided by the partial divestment of the Vinamilk stake.
Get Smart: Underperformance Isn’t Always a Verdict
A 2% pullback in the STI is a reminder that even blue chips can have a soft month.
The trio that lagged in April 2026 each posted underlying profit growth.
Yet, share prices reflected a different judgement: that the quality of that growth, and the visibility of what comes next, matter too.
For dividend investors, the more useful exercise isn’t tallying monthly returns.
It’s asking whether the dividend remains supported by free cash flow, and whether the business has the room to keep paying – and growing – distributions through cycles like this one.
Oil prices are rising. Markets are swinging. And headlines are getting louder by the day.
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Disclosure: The Smart Investor does not own shares of any companies mentioned.
