Growth can be found in a wide variety of businesses that have either successfully evolved their business models or latched on to sustainable trends.
Aside from fast-growing technology stocks in the US, there are also Singapore stocks that have demonstrated strong growth in the past two years.
These businesses have a sturdy competitive moat and offer goods and services that should continue to see sustained demand.
Two of these stocks have seen their share prices more than double in the past year.
However, you may be surprised to know that their business could continue to grow.
Both stocks also pay out healthy dividends so investors can enjoy a sweet combination of both growth and passive income.
The Hour Glass Limited (SGX: AGS)
The Hour Glass, or THG, owns a network of 50 luxury watch boutiques across the Asia-Pacific region.
The group is the official retailer for Swiss watch brands such as Rolex, Patek Philippe, Audemars Piguet, Omega, and Hublot.
For its fiscal 2022 first half (1H2022) ended 30 September 2021, THG reported a 62% year on year jump in revenue to S$477.4 million.
Net profit more than doubled year on year to S$62.6 million.
Free cash flow also surged by 53.8% year on year from S$51.1 million to S$78.6 million.
An interim dividend of S$0.02 per share was paid, similar to the level a year ago.
There could be more upside for THG’s business, with Swiss watch exports recording strong growth in March, up 11.8% year on year to CHF 2.1 billion.
For the January to March period this year, the total value of Swiss watch exports in the top 30 markets rose 14.3% year on year to CHF 5.8 billion.
The increase in asset prices last year has also minted many more ultra-high-net-worth individuals (UHNWI) both in Singapore and globally.
For Singapore, the UHNWI population increased by 8.6% year on year to 4,206 in 2021 while globally, the increase was 9.3% year on year to 610,569.
In addition, there were also 526,000 high-net-worth individuals (HNWI) in Singapore in 2021, up 6% over the prior year.
The increases in both UHNWI and HNWI bode well for THG’s business of selling luxury timepieces and could see the group posting higher revenue and net profit in the years to come.
Azeus Systems Holdings Ltd (SGX: BBW)
Azeus Systems is a provider of IT products and services.
Its flagship product, Azeus Convene, is a paperless meeting solution used by companies in various industries and across more than 100 countries.
Its virtual annual general meeting (AGM) solution, AGM@Convene, has also been well-received due to the pandemic which has shifted many AGMs online.
Azeus has seen its share price surge more than four-fold from S$1.95 to S$8.02 in the past year.
For 1H2022, Azeus reported a 20% year on year increase in revenue to HK$95.4 million.
Gross profit jumped 25% year on year to HK$64.2 million, driven by growth in its products segment, while net profit surged 60% year on year to HK$17.5 million.
The group hosted its very first hybrid meeting cum question and answer (Q&A) session in April last year for iFAST Corporation Limited (SGX: AIY) through AGM@Convene.
In September, Azeus upgraded its software to provide meetings across all formats – physical, virtual and hybrid.
This upgrade should serve the company well for the new normal where AGMs will be held using a variety of methods including hybrid and virtual ones.
Azeus also has very low capital expenditure requirements, spending just HK$419,000 while generating an operating cash flow of HK$18 million for 1H2022.
A final dividend of HK$0.39 was paid out for FY2021 and with the better results, there is a good chance that the company may raise its dividend for FY2022.
Earlier this month, Azeus secured its single largest contract to date worth HK$1.02 billion from the Hong Kong SAR government for the implementation of its central electronic record-keeping system.
Around 75% of the value of the contract is for the licensing and maintenance of Convene Records, a content and records management product designed and developed by Azeus.
The contract will contribute revenue for the group from FY2023 till FY2037, and will further enhance the group’s recurring income stream.
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Disclaimer: Royston Yang owns shares of iFAST Corporation Limited.
