With the earnings season just recently concluded, it’s time to take stock of how the blue-chip stocks have performed.
The good news is that a fair number of blue-chip companies delivered commendable earnings and also raised their dividends along the way.
For income investors, this news should be music to their ears.
Not only can they enjoy a larger stream of passive income, but also enjoy attractive capital gains at the same time.
Here are five blue-chip stocks that recently announced higher dividends.
DBS Group (SGX: D05)
DBS needs no introduction, being Singapore’s largest bank by market capitalisation.
The lender released a mixed set of results for the first quarter of 2025 (1Q 2025).
Commercial book net interest income inched up 2% year on year to S$3.7 billion despite net interest margin dipping from 2.14% to 2.12%.
Fee and commission income climbed 22% year on year to S$1.3 billion for the quarter.
As a result, DBS’s total income rose 6% year on year to S$5.9 billion.
However, net profit dipped by 2% year on year to S$2.9 billion because of the implementation of a 15% minimum global tax.
Despite the lower profit, DBS still upped its interim dividend from S$0.54 last year to S$0.75 in the current quarter, comprising an ordinary dividend of S$0.60 and a capital return dividend of S$0.15.
Looking ahead, CEO Tan Su Shan expects net interest income to be slightly above 2024 levels as lower interest rates could spur loan growth.
Non-interest income is projected to grow by mid-to-high single digits.
Singtel (SGX: Z74)
Singtel is Singapore’s largest telecommunication company (telco) by market capitalisation and provides a wide range of mobile, pay TV, and broadband services.
The telco announced a solid set of earnings for its fiscal 2025 (FY2025) ending 31 March 2025.
Operating revenue stayed stable at S$14.1 billion.
Operating profit (excluding associates’ contributions) jumped 20% year on year to S$1.4 billion.
Underlying net profit rose 9% year on year to S$2.5 billion.
Singtel booked strong performances for both its Optus and NCS divisions, with operating profit climbing 55% and 39% year on year, respectively.
The telco declared a total final dividend of S$0.10, comprising a core dividend of S$0.067 and a value realisation dividend of S$0.033.
With this dividend, Singtel’s total dividend for FY2025 stood at S$0.17, 13% higher than the S$0.15 that was paid out in the prior fiscal year.
The group will push on with its ST28 long-term strategy to lift its business performance and scale up its growth engines.
Last month, the telco also established a S$2 billion value realisation share buyback programme to drive more value for shareholders.
SATS (SGX: S58)
SATS provides ground handling, air cargo handling services, and food catering for airlines and organisations.
For FY2025, revenue climbed 13% year on year to S$5.8 billion, buoyed by higher volumes across its core business segments.
Operating profit leapt 95% year on year to S$475.7 million while net profit catapulted more than fourfold year on year to S$243.8 million.
In line with this good performance, SATS more than doubled its final dividend from S$0.015 to S$0.035.
The airline caterer’s FY2025 total dividend came up to S$0.05, which includes an interim dividend of S$0.015.
SATS is investing to build up its Singapore Hub capabilities and will continue to pare down debt and reinvest in the business.
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 in Singapore.
The portfolio has assets under management of approximately S$7.1 billion as of 31 March 2025.
FCT reported a resilient set of results for its first half of fiscal 2025 (1H FY2025) ending 31 March 2025.
Gross revenue rose 7.1% year on year to S$184.4 million, aided by contributions from renewed and new leases signed.
Net property income climbed 7.3% year on year to S$133.7 million on good expense control.
Distribution per unit (DPU) inched up 0.5% year on year to S$0.06054.
The retail REIT reported strong operating metrics that should see it do well in the coming quarters.
Retail portfolio occupancy stood high at 99.5%, and the portfolio also enjoyed a positive rental reversion of 9% for 1H FY2025.
FCT recently successfully raised funds to purchase a 100% stake in Northpoint City South Wing, a transaction that is expected to be accretive to DPU.
The manager also commenced the asset enhancement initiative for Hougang Mall in April 2025 with a target to complete these works by 3Q 2026.
Singapore Exchange Limited (SGX: S68)
Singapore Exchange Limited, or SGX, is Singapore’s sole stock exchange operator.
The group delivered a commendable set of results for its 1H FY2025 ending 31 December 2024.
Net revenue rose 15.6% year on year to S$646.4 million.
Net profit excluding one-off items climbed 27.3% year on year to S$320.1 million.
SGX upped its quarterly dividend from S$0.085 to S$0.09, taking its annualised dividend to S$0.36 per share.
Management is optimistic about achieving revenue growth of 6% to 8% per annum in the medium term.
As for dividends, the group also targets to grow this at mid-single-digits per year in line with the growth in net profit.
Some companies cut dividends in a downturn. These 5 didn’t.
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Disclosure: Royston Yang owns shares of DBS Group and Singapore Exchange Limited.
