Everyone loves receiving cash in their bank account.
Income investors know this feeling all too well as they park their money in a mix of REITs and dividend-paying stocks.
It’s even more attractive if the stocks you invest in start to raise their dividends.
By doing so, management may be signalling that the business is generating healthy cash flows and is poised to do better in the future.
It can be tedious to trawl through numerous corporate earnings to sift out companies that have raised their dividends.
We have done the work for you and filtered out four such companies that increased their year-on-year payouts.
Raffles Medical Group (SGX: BSL)
Raffles Medical Group, or RMG, is an integrated healthcare provider that operates in 14 cities in five countries in Asia.
The group owns three tertiary hospitals and more than 100 multi-disciplinary clinics and employs over 2,800 employees.
RMG rounded off 2022 with a strong set of earnings.
Revenue rose 5.9% year on year to S$766.5 million as border reopenings saw the return of more foreign patients seeking medical treatment.
Operating profit jumped 61.4% year on year to S$195.8 million while net profit surged 70.5% year on year to S$143.5 million.
The integrated healthcare player generated a free cash flow of S$170.9 million, up 59.3% year on year.
A final dividend of S$0.038 was declared, a jump of 35.7% compared to the previous year’s S$0.028.
The group expects to see more patients returning as global travel resumes.
China’s reopening also spells good news for its hospitals and medical clinics there as they can resume normal operations.
ComfortDelGro Corporation Limited (SGX: C52)
ComfortDelGro Corporation Limited, or CDG, is one of the world’s largest land transport operators.
The group has a total vehicle fleet size of around 34,000 buses, taxis and rental vehicles and also operates light and heavy rail services in Singapore and New Zealand.
CDG reported a good set of earnings for 2022 as revenue improved by 7.9% year on year to S$3.8 billion.
Operating profit climbed 35.1% year on year to S$270 million and net profit surged by 40.7% year on year to S$173.1 million.
The transport giant declared a final dividend of S$0.0176 and a special dividend of S$0.0246, taking the total 2022 dividend to S$0.0848.
This level of dividends was slightly more than double the S$0.042 paid out in 2021.
Taxi revenues in Singapore are projected to increase while those in China should see improvements after the country relaxed its COVID-zero policies.
Rail ridership in Singapore along with bus charter in Australia and coach services in the UK are all expected to recover with the lifting of COVID-19 restrictions.
Nordic Group (SGX: MR7)
Nordic Group provides a range of services including system integration solutions, vessel maintenance, repair and overhaul, and scaffolding and insulation to the marine, oil and gas, and petrochemical sectors.
The group posted a commendable financial performance for 2022 as revenue surged 58% year on year to S$162.8 million.
The better performance was attributed to higher semiconductor activities in Malaysia as well as maiden contributions from newly-acquired Starburst and Eratech.
Gross profit improved by 65% year on year while net profit rose 50% year on year to S$20.9 million.
A final dividend of S$0.00906 was declared, bringing 2022’s dividend to S$0.02068, 20% higher than the prior year’s S$0.0174.
Nordic had an outstanding order book of S$232.5 million as of 31 December 2022 and will deliver these in the next three years.
The group will continue to look for more merger and acquisition opportunities while keeping a lid on rising costs.
Nanofilm Technologies International (SGX: MZH)
Nanofilm is a leading provider of nanotechnology solutions in Asia and also provides technology-based solutions to a wide range of clients.
Revenue for the group slipped by 3.8% year on year in 2022 to S$237.4 million.
Net profit fell by 29.6% year on year to S$43.8 million.
Despite the weaker performance, Nanofilm declared a final dividend of S$0.011, slightly above the S$0.01 final dividend paid out in 2021.
For 2022, the total dividend came up to S$0.022, 10% above the S$0.02 paid out for the whole of 2021.
The group is optimistic that the challenges it faced last year will not recur, while it expects a recovery in China by the second half of this year.
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Disclosure: Royston Yang owns shares of Raffles Medical Group.
