When it comes to building a long-term investment portfolio, one of the things retail investors look at (myself included) is a company’s dividend payout frequency – where many are in favour of those that pays out a dividend once every quarter (well, who doesn’t like to have some ‘pocket money’ trickling into our bank accounts regularly from time to time?)

No doubt most of these companies that do so are REITs, but there are some non-REIT companies that also pays out dividends in such a time frequency. In this post, let us take a look at 4 of them (3 of these companies happen to be constituents of Singapore’s benchmark Straits Times Index, or STI for short) – along with a brief introduction about its business operations, as well as its financial performances and dividend payouts over the last 5 years.

Let’s begin:

1. DBS Group Holdings Limited (SGX:D05)

DBS Group Holdings Limited is not just Singapore’s largest bank, but it is also one of the leading banks in Asia where it has a business presence in 19 markets (including its home market, Singapore.)

The Singapore bank’s financial performance over the last 5 years (between FY2018 and FY2022 – it has a financial year ending every 30 December) has been nothing short of impressive – where its total income grew from $13.2 billion to $16.5 billion (a compound annual growth rate [CAGR] of 4.6%), and its net profit climbed from $5.7 billion to $8.2 billion (a CAGR of 7.5%.) Another thing to note is that the bank’s net profit of $8.2 billion in FY2022 was a record high, as it benefited from the series of interest rate hikes by the Federal Reserve, along with a growing loan volume.

As far as dividend growth is concerned, since FY2019, the bank have changed its dividend payout frequency from half-yearly to quarterly. Payouts have also saw a gradual increase from $1.20/share in FY2018 to $2.00/share in FY2022 – a CAGR of a very impressive 10.8% – however, do note that the bank’s dividend payouts went up every year with the exception of FY2020, under the advise of Monetary Authority of Singapore to cap dividend payouts to 60.0% of what was paid out in FY2019 for prudence due to Covid-19. Also, its dividend payout of $2.00/share is inclusive of a special dividend of 50.0 cents/share.

Finally, based on its trading price of $33.38 at market close on 06 April 2023, along with its full-year dividend payout of $2.00 in FY2022, its yield is 6.0%. However, if you exclude the special dividend payout, its full-year dividend payout will be $1.50 in FY2022, and its yield will be at 4.5%.

2. Singapore Exchange Limited (SGX:S68)

Singapore Exchange Limited, or SGX for short, is another company you should be very familiar with – for it is the only stock exchange in Singapore (and hence, the company has a ‘moat’ here) where it provides listing, trading, clearing, settlement, depository, and data services. Not only that, SGX is also Asia’s leading and trusted securities and derivatives market infrastructure, operating equity, fixed income, currency and commodity markets to the highest regulatory standards, along with being an operator of multi-asset sustainability platform, SGX FIRST (Future In Reshaping Sustainability Together.)

The company have also recorded a steady improvement in terms of its financial performance between FY2017/18 and FY2021/22 (it has a financial year ending every 30 September) – with its total revenue rising from $844.7m to $1,099.0m (a CAGR of 5.4%), and its net profit going up from $363.2m to $451.9m (a CAGR of 4.5%.)

In terms of dividend payout, it saw a gradual climb from 30.0 cents/share in FY2017/18 to 32.0 cents/share in FY2021/22 – a CAGR of 1.3%.

Finally, based on its trading price of $9.53 at market close on 06 April 2023, along with its dividend payout of $0.32/share in FY2021/22, its yield is 3.4%.

3. ST Engineering Limited (SGX:S63)

Headquartered in Singapore, ST Engineering is a global technology, defence, and engineering group with a diverse portfolio of businesses across the aerospace, smart city, defence, and public security segments. With a network of subsidiaries and associated companies in Asia, Europe, the Middle East, and the United States, the company serves customers in more than 100 countries.

In terms of the company’s performance over the last 5 years (between FY2018 and FY2022 – it has a financial year ending every 31 December), its total revenue have gone up from $6.7 billion to $9.0 billion (a CAGR of 6.1%), while its net profit improved from $494m to $535m (a CAGR of 1.6%) – one thing to note about its net profit is that growth over the years have been fluctuating.

Looking at its dividend payout over the years, from FY2018 and FY2021, it has paid out 15.0 cents/share, before improving to 16.0 cents/share in FY2022.

Finally, based on its trading price of $3.68 at market close on 06 April 2023, and a full-year dividend payout of $0.16 in FY2022, its yield is 4.3%.

4. iFAST Corporation Limited (SGX:AIY)

Incorporated in the year 2000 (and listed on the Singapore Exchange Mainboard in December 2014) with its headquarters in Singapore, iFast Corporation Limited offers access to a wide range of investment products and services, wealth management solutions, research and investment seminars, fintech solutions, banking, pension administration, and investment administration and transaction services. Apart from Singapore, the financial company also has a business presence in Malaysia, Hong Kong, and China.

As far as the company’s financial performances (between FY2018 and FY2022 – it has a financial year end every 31 December) are concerned, its revenue grew from $121.2m to $205.3m (a CAGR of a very impressive 11.1%.). However, its net profit fluctuated over the same time period between a low of $5.3m (in FY2022) and a high of $30.4m (in FY2021.)

Its dividend payout over the years improved gradually over the years – from 3.2 cents/share in FY2018 to 4.8 cents/share in FY2022 (a CAGR of 8.4%.)

Finally, based on its trading price of $4.90 at market close on 06 April 2023, and a full-year dividend payout of $0.048 in FY2022, its yield is 1.0%.

Closing Thoughts

So there you have it, the 4 Singapore-listed companies that pays out a dividend once every 3 months.

Do note that this post by no means any calls for you to go out and invest in any of the companies mentioned, but rather, a starting point for you to conduct a more in-depth research on them prior to making any investment decisions.

Disclaimer: At the time of writing, I am a shareholder of DBS Group Holdings Limited.

Launch Event for My First Book: building your REIT-irement portfolio

After months of hard work, my first book, 'Building Your REIT-irement portfolio' is finally ready! In this easy-to-follow 178-page guide, you'll learn everything you need to know about building a REIT portfolio that can provide for you in your retirement years. You can check out a preview of the book here.

I'm extremely thankful to the team at InvestingNote and ShareInvestor for their help to organise a book launch event for me on Tuesday, 26th September 2023, from 6:00pm to 8:00pm at their office in New Tech Park.

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