Three SGX-listed companies raised their interim dividends for the first half of 2026 (1H2026), and all three hold more cash than debt.
Look at free cash flow, though, and only one of them is producing more of it than a year ago.
Why does that matter?
Free cash flow is the lifeblood of dividends.
Net cash can carry a payout through a lean half, but only free cash flow can keep paying it year after year.
| Stock Name (Ticker) | 1H 2026 Results | Interim Dividend (per share) | Free Cash Flow (1H 2026) |
| Info-Tech Systems Ltd(SGX: ITS) | Revenue up 22% YoY to S$27.3 millionNet Profit up 89% YoY to S$9.7 million(Adjusted NPAT up 20% to S$8.7 million) | S$0.0168 (+8.4% YoY) | S$15.1 million (Up from S$6.2 million in 1H2025) |
| China Sunsine Chemical Holdings Ltd(SGX: QES) | Revenue up 19% YoY to RMB 2 billionNet Profit up 5% YoY to RMB 254.3 million | S$0.01 (+100% YoY) | RMB 25.4 million (Down 91% from RMB 280.5 million in 1H2025) |
| Delfi Ltd(SGX: P34) | Revenue up 2.7% YoY to US$266.6 millionNet Profit up 5.4% YoY to US$12.9 million | S$0.0134 (+4.7% YoY) | US$10.1 million (Down 81% from US$52.2 million in 1H2025) |
Is Info-Tech’s dividend increase backed by cash?
Info-Tech Systems Ltd (SGX: ITS) sells cloud-based software for human resource management, accounting and customer relationship management, and runs AI training through Info-Tech Academy.
For 1H2026, revenue rose 22% year on year (YoY) to S$27.3 million.
Subscriptions, which make up the bulk of sales, grew 12% to S$21.2 million.
Services revenue rose 116% to S$4.9 million on demand for the group’s AI training.
Profit attributable to owners rose 89% to S$9.7 million, though two one-offs flattered it.
Info-Tech received a S$1 million Enterprise Singapore grant in January 2026, and the 1H2025 figure included roughly S$2 million in listing expenses.
Strip out these one-offs and the company puts adjusted profit after tax at S$8.7 million, a more modest 20% increase.
Free cash flow climbed to S$15.1 million from S$6.2 million, and a S$6.9 million release from trade receivables gave it a lift.
Even without that boost, free cash flow would have covered the S$4.3 million interim dividend bill nearly twice over.
The interim dividend rose 8.4% to S$0.0168 per share, which the company says amounts to 45% of net profit.
Info-Tech ended June with S$76.6 million in cash and no borrowings, against S$5.1 million in lease liabilities.
The catch? Info-Tech listed only in July 2025, so its dividend record is short.
Part of its growth also hinges on AI training, which management expects Singapore’s SkillsFuture initiatives to support.
Why did China Sunsine double its dividend while free cash flow fell?
China Sunsine Chemical Holdings Ltd (SGX: QES) makes rubber chemicals in China for tyre makers including Bridgestone and Pirelli.
Revenue for 1H2026 rose 19% YoY to RMB 2 billion as its average selling price and sales volume each climbed 9%.
Sunsine sold a record 119,959 tonnes.
Gross margin widened from 24.6% to 25.2%, and gross profit grew 22% to RMB 506.0 million.
Net profit attributable to shareholders rose a slower 5% to RMB 254.3 million.
A stronger renminbi against the US dollar led to RMB 47.8 million in net other losses, and administrative and research costs also rose.
Free cash flow fell about 91% to RMB 25.4 million from RMB 280.5 million because Sunsine tied up more cash in inventories and trade receivables.
A cut in capital expenditure, to RMB 51.6 million from RMB 151.0 million, softened the blow.
What pays for a doubled dividend? The balance sheet.
Sunsine held RMB 2.2 billion in cash and no borrowings as at 30 June 2026, more than eight times its half-year profit.
Its interim dividend doubled to S$0.01 per share.
High raw material prices and domestic oversupply persist, so management will keep balancing sales with production.
A 20,000-tonne project at its Weifang plant should begin commercial production by end-2026 and is expected to lift annual capacity to 272,000 tonnes.
Sunsine will need to find buyers for that extra output.
Can Delfi keep raising its dividend as margins shrink?
Delfi Ltd (SGX: P34) is best known for its SilverQueen, Ceres and Delfi chocolate brands in Indonesia, and sells consumer products across 17 markets.
Revenue for 1H2026 rose 2.7% YoY to US$266.6 million.
Own Brands sales grew 13.3%, but Agency Brands sales fell 12.4% after an agency account ended in the third quarter of 2025.
Profit attributable to shareholders increased 5.4% to US$12.9 million.
A US$2.6 million net foreign exchange gain and a 14% drop in tax expense propped up that figure.
Higher raw material costs and weaker regional currencies squeezed gross margin by 1.8 percentage points to 25.7%, and EBITDA fell 3.7% to US$23.4 million.
Free cash flow fell about 81% to US$10.1 million from US$52.2 million.
Lower advertising and promotion accruals and heavier payments to suppliers drove most of that drop.
Delfi held US$63.3 million in cash against US$20.3 million as at 30 June 2026, for net cash of US$43.0 million.
Its interim dividend rose 4.7% to S$0.0134 per share, the smallest increase of the three.
Management expects cocoa prices to stay volatile and the Middle East conflict to push up operating costs.
Get Smart: Find out what drained the cash
A sharp fall in free cash flow does not doom a dividend.
What matters is why the cash fell.
Cash tied up in inventories, receivables or supplier payments can flow back in later periods.
Sunsine’s shortfall came largely from working capital in a half when its gross profit grew 22%.
Delfi’s drop was also mostly working capital, though its thinner gross margin is a separate squeeze on earnings.
The next time a company raises its dividend in a weak cash half, ask yourself whether that cash will come back.
For Sunsine and Delfi, watch free cash flow when they report full-year results.
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Disclosure: Calvina L. does not own shares in any of the companies mentioned. Chin Hui Leong contributed to this article and owns shares in Delfi.
