Last month, we wrote about four blue-chip stocks that raised their dividends.
With the first earnings season of 2025 tailing off, we reviewed the remainder of the companies that reported their earnings.
If you are an income investor, there’s more happy news.
We identified four more Singapore blue-chip stocks that announced dividend increases.
Hongkong Land Holdings (SGX: H78)
Hongkong Land, or HKL, is a property investment, management, and development group with a real estate portfolio spanning more than 850,000 square metres comprising high-end retail and commercial properties.
For 2024, revenue rose 8.6% year on year to US$2 billion.
However, HKL saw a 44% year-on-year plunge in its underlying net profit to US$410 million.
Excluding China’s non-cash provisions, net profit would have fallen by a gentler 12% year on year to US$724 million.
HKL also launched its 2035 strategic vision which aims to double its 2023 dividend per share in 11 years.
For 2024, dividend per share was raised by 5% year on year to US$0.23.
Management has confirmed that capital recycling initiatives are progressing.
HKL’s focus is now on ultra-premium integrated commercial properties that will reinforce the group’s core capabilities and help generate growth in recurring income over the long term.
With a priority to simplify the business, HKL will no longer invest in the build-to-sell segment but will recycle capital out into the new integrated commercial properties sector.
DFI Retail Group (SGX: D01)
DFI Retail Group is a pan-Asian retailer operating around 11,000 outlets as of 30 June 2024.
The group’s retail outlets operate under popular brands such as Giant, Cold Storage, Guardian Health and Beauty, and 7-Eleven.
2024 saw revenue dip by 3% year on year to US$8.9 billion.
However, underlying net profit climbed 30% year on year to US$201 million.
The retail group upped its dividend by 31% year on year from US$0.08 to US$0.105.
DFI Retail Group is implementing its strategic framework which focuses on three key pillars.
The first is “Customer First” which involves strengthening its Yuu Rewards loyalty programme.
Last year, the programme added more members and onboarded more partners.
Second is “People Led” which introduced key management appointments to streamline operations and expedite decision-making.
Finally, the third pillar is “Shareholder Driven”, which involves simplifying the group structure after the divestment of Hero Supermarket and Yonghui Superstores.
Management is particularly optimistic about the growth prospects for its Health and Beauty segment, which makes up 55% of the group’s operating profit.
Sembcorp Industries (SGX: U96)
Sembcorp Industries, or SCI, is an energy and urban solutions provider with a balanced energy portfolio of 25.1 GW across 11 countries.
The group’s urban development portfolio spans 14,400 hectares across Asia.
SCI reported a mixed set of earnings for 2024 with revenue dipping 9% year on year to S$6.4 billion.
The weaker revenue was because of a planned major maintenance of a cogeneration plant in Singapore coupled with a 34% year-on-year plunge in wholesale electricity prices for 2024.
Net profit before exceptional items stayed flat year on year at S$1 billion.
Management more than doubled SCI’s final dividend from S$0.08 to S$0.17.
CEO Wong Kim Yin expressed confidence in the utility provider’s future performance and its ability to generate sustainable returns.
Earlier this month, SCI expanded its partnership with Becamex where its subsidiary, Sembcorp Development, was awarded two new Vietnam Singapore Industrial Park (VSIP) projects.
This win takes the total number of projects to 20 in the country.
Meanwhile, SCI is also making progress in growing its gross renewables capacity.
As of February 2025, this stood at 17 GW, with the target to reach 25 GW by 2028.
Singapore Technologies Engineering (SGX: S63)
Singapore Technologies Engineering, or STE, is a technology, defence, and engineering group serving customers in the aerospace, smart city, and public security segments.
For 2024, STE’s revenue grew 10.6% year on year to a record high of S$11.3 billion.
Operating profit climbed 17.7% year on year to S$1.1 billion while net profit surged nearly 20% year on year to S$702.3 million, also a new high.
The strong performance was led by year-on-year revenue increases across all three divisions.
Last year saw STE snag a total of S$12.6 billion of contract wins, taking its order book to S$28.5 billion as of 31 December 2024.
S$8.8 billion of this order book is expected to be delivered this year.
A final dividend of S$0.05 was declared, 25% higher than the S$0.04 paid out last year.
For 2024, the total dividend stood at S$0.17, one cent above the S$0.16 paid in the previous year.
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Disclosure: Royston Yang does not own shares in any of the companies mentioned.
