It’s been an interesting year for investors as interest rates and inflation started to ease.
Income investors enjoyed a bonanza as several companies announced dividend increases.
These increases will help to improve the flow of passive income and help you better prepare for retirement.
So here they are – eight companies that increased their dividends this year.
DBS Group (SGX: D05)
DBS is Singapore’s largest bank by market capitalisation.
The lender reported a strong set of earnings for the first nine months of 2024 (9M 2024).
Total income rose 11% year on year to S$16.8 billion, led by a 5% year-on-year increase in net interest income and a sharp 27% year-on-year jump in fee and commission income.
Net profit for 9M 2024 came in at S$8.8 billion, 12% higher than the level last year.
DBS paid out a total dividend per share of S$1.62 for 9M 2024, 28.6% higher than the S$1.26 paid out in the previous corresponding period.
CEO Piyush Gupta expects growth in the bank’s non-interest income but net profit should be below 2024 levels because of a global minimum tax of 15% levied on the business.
iFAST Corporation Limited (SGX: AIY)
iFAST is a financial technology company that operates a platform for the buying and selling of unit trusts, equities, and bonds.
Like DBS, the fintech also reported a stellar set of earnings for 9M 2024.
Net revenue surged by 75.5% year on year to S$183.5 million while operating profit nearly tripled year on year to S$60.1 million.
Net profit more than tripled year on year from S$15.1 million to S$47.4 million.
The group’s dividend jumped by 26.5% year on year from S$0.034 to S$0.043.
Its assets under administration also grew by 23.6% year on year to hit a new record of S$23.6 billion.
Looking ahead, management expects the Hong Kong ePension division and the group’s digital bank to become important growth drivers in 2025 and beyond.
OCBC Ltd (SGX: O39)
OCBC is Singapore’s second-largest bank by market capitalisation.
The lender also reported a strong set of earnings for 9M 2024, buoyed by higher interest rates and healthy fee income growth.
Total income rose 8% year on year to S$11.1 billion while net profit improved by 9% year on year to S$5.9 billion.
For the first half of 2024 (1H 2024), OCBC paid out an interim dividend of S$0.44, 10% higher than the S$0.40 paid out a year ago.
CEO Helen Wong believes that the bank is well-positioned to deliver 2024’s targets of low single-digit loan growth and a return of equity above 14%.
Singapore Post (SGX: S08)
Singapore Post, or SingPost, is a postal and eCommerce logistics provider in the Asia Pacific region.
The group saw its revenue for the first half of fiscal 2025 (1H FY2025) ending 30 September 2024 rise 20% year on year to S$992.4 million.
The uplift came mainly from SingPost’s Australian business which saw a 44% year-on-year increase in revenue to S$574.9 million.
The postal company’s underlying net profit for 1H FY2025 soared 88% year on year to S$25.2 million.
An interim dividend of S$0.0034 was declared, 89% higher than the S$0.0018 paid out in 1H FY2024.
Singtel (SGX: Z74)
Singtel is Singapore’s largest telecommunication company and offers mobile, Pay TV, and broadband services.
For 1H FY2025, the group reported a mixed set of earnings with revenue dipping by 0.5% year on year to S$7 billion.
Operating profit, however, climbed 27% year on year to S$738 million while underlying net profit improved by 6% year on year to S$1.2 billion.
An interim dividend of S$0.07 was declared and paid, a 35% year-on-year jump from the S$0.052 paid out a year ago.
The telco will continue to focus on its ST28 long-term plan and drive operating profit improvements through enterprise growth in Singapore and Australia.
United Overseas Bank (SGX: U11)
United Overseas Bank, or UOB, is the third of the trio of local banks.
For 9M 2024, the lender saw total income rise 3% year on year to S$10.8 billion while operating profit inched up 2% year on year to S$6.3 billion.
Net profit came in at S$4.5 billion, up 5% year on year.
The bank had raised its interim dividend during its 1H 2024 results from S$0.85 to S$0.88.
CEO Wee Ee Cheong provided a sanguine outlook for 2025 and expects high single-digit loan growth along with double-digit fee income growth.
Singapore Exchange Limited (SGX: S68)
Singapore Exchange Limited, or SGX, is Singapore’s only stock exchange operator.
The group reported a resilient set of earnings for its fiscal 2024 (FY2024) ending 30 June 2024.
Revenue rose 3.1% year on year to S$1.2 billion while net profit (excluding exceptional items) increased by 4.5% year on year to S$525.9 million.
In line with the good results, SGX upped its quarterly dividend from S$0.085 to S$0.09, taking the annualised dividend per share to S$0.36 for FY2025.
Management aims to grow the group’s revenue by between 6% to 8% per annum in the medium term.
NetLink NBN Trust (SGX: CJLU)
NetLink NBN Trust designs, builds, owns, and operates the passive fibre infrastructure of Singapore’s nationwide broadband network (NBN).
For 1H FY2025, NetLink reported a slight 0.2% year-on-year dip in revenue to S$204.8 million.
Net profit fell by 8.3% year on year to S$48.5 million.
Despite this drop, distribution per unit inched up 1.1% year on year from S$0.0265 to S$0.0268.
Management’s focus for FY2025 is to complete the construction of its new central office to achieve operational readiness to serve the northern part of Singapore.
It will also continue to support the digitalisation of small and medium enterprises (SMEs) by lowering the cost of connections.
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Disclosure: Royston Yang owns shares of DBS Group, iFAST, Singapore Exchange Limited and NetLink NBN Trust.
