Last year, the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) established an equity market review committee (EMRC) to look at ways to strengthen Singapore’s stock market.
As part of a raft of new initiatives aimed at increasing interest from both retail and institutional investors, MAS has agreed to a S$5 billion programme.
Singapore’s central bank will partner with selected fund managers to invest in local stocks.
We shortlisted five interesting candidates that we believe will benefit from this pool of money as these stocks look set to report healthy growth.
ComfortDelGro Corporation (SGX: C52)
ComfortDelGro Corporation, or CDG, is a transport operator offering a comprehensive suite of transport solutions.
The group’s network spans public transport modes such as buses and rail, along with point-to-point transport such as taxis and private hire cars.
CDG pulled off a commendable performance for 2024 with revenue rising 15.4% year on year to S$4.48 billion.
Operating profit improved by almost 19% year on year to S$322.9 million while net profit increased by 16.6% year on year to S$210.5 million.
The better performance was attributed to the acquisitions made last year which also helped to increase overseas revenue contribution to near half of the group’s total.
CDG paid out a total dividend of S$0.0777 for 2024, a 16.7% year-on-year increase compared to the S$0.0666 paid a year earlier.
The land transport giant pulled off an admirable performance for its first quarter of 2025 (1Q 2025) business update.
Revenue continued its climb, rising 16.4% year on year to S$1.17 billion.
Operating profit surged 45.5% year on year to S$81.5 million while net profit climbed 19% year on year to S$48.3 million.
iFAST Corporation (SGX: AIY)
iFAST Corporation is a financial technology company operating a platform for the buying and selling of unit trusts, bonds, and equities.
The group reported a stellar set of earnings for 1Q 2025 with net revenue rising 16.5% year on year to S$67.7 million.
Operating leveraged helped iFAST to increase its operating and net profit by 29% and 31.2% year on year, respectively, to S$23.8 million and S$19 million.
Healthy net inflows of S$938 million helped to push iFAST’s assets under administration (AUA) up 22% year on year to a record S$25.68 billion as of 31 March 2025.
With this strong performance, the group upped its 1Q 2025 interim dividend from S$0.013 to S$0.016.
iFAST’s digital bank, iFAST Global Bank, also posted a second consecutive quarter of profitability at S$1 million.
Management expects to achieve healthy growth for its various business segments for 2025.
Hong Leong Asia (SGX: H22)
Hong Leong Asia, or HLA, is a conglomerate with assets in property investments and development, hotel ownership, financial services, and industrial enterprises.
For 2024, revenue rose 4.1% year on year to S$4.2 billion.
Net profit climbed 35.3% year on year to S$87.8 million.
The group doubled its 2024 dividend from S$0.02 to S$0.04.
Its powertrain solutions division sold 12,100 units in 2024, up 50% year on year.
The division also launched 50 fuel cell powered bus, and Phase II of MTU Yuchai Power JV has started to produce Series 4000 engines to cater to growing demand for data centre and semiconductor pre-fabrication plants.
For the building materials division, HLA is investing in larger capacity mixers to improve productivity.
Parkway Life REIT (SGX: C2PU)
Parkway Life REIT, or PLife REIT, is a healthcare REIT with a portfolio of 75 properties located in Singapore, Japan, France, and Malaysia.
The portfolio had an asset size of around S$2.46 billion as of 31 March 2025.
The healthcare REIT boasts a solid track record of increasing core distribution per unit (DPU) since its IPO in 2007.
1Q 2025 saw a continuation of this trend with gross revenue rising 7.3% year on year to S$39 million and net property income increasing by 7.5% year on year to S$36.8 million.
The REIT’s DPU inched up 1.3% year on year to S$0.0384.
Last October, Plife REIT conducted an acquisition of 11 nursing homes in France to establish its third growth market.
These nursing homes, along with select acquisitions of nursing homes in Japan, should help the REIT to continue its track record of rising DPU.
Meanwhile, the REIT’s Singapore hospitals should see a 24.4% year-on-year increase in rental income next year in line with the new master lease agreement signed in August 2022.
SIA Engineering (SGX: S59)
SIA Engineering, or SIAEC, provides maintenance, repair and overhaul (MRO) services for airlines.
The group also provides base and line maintenance services along with fleet management services.
SIAEC posted healthy growth in its top and bottom lines for its fiscal 2025 (FY2025) ending 31 March 2025.
Revenue climbed 13.8% year on year to S$1.25 billion while operating stood at S$14.6 million.
SIAEC saw higher share of profits from associates and joint ventures, leading its net profit to grow by nearly 44% year on year to S$139.6 million.
The group declared a final dividend of S$0.07 for FY2025.
Coupled with the interim dividend of S$0.02, the total dividend for FY2025 came up to S$0.09, one cent more than the prior fiscal year.
SIAEC recently signed a S$1.3 billion service agreements with Singapore Airlines (SGX: C6L) and Scoot.
The group’s growth strategy involves expanding its geographical presence while growing capacity and its MRO capabilities for new-generation aircraft.
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Disclosure: Royston Yang owns shares of iFAST Corporation Ltd.
