10 Companies That Have Raised Dividends Amid Dividend Cuts by Others
Sudhan Pā
In the midst of a muted outlook for the economy, many Singapore-listed companies have been forced to cut their dividends.
The more prominent ones are the local banks of DBS Group Holdings LtdĀ (SGX: D05),Ā Oversea-Chinese Banking Corporation Limited (SGX: O39) and United Overseas Bank Ltd (SGX: U11).
They were popular among yield-hungry investors, with dividend yields upwards of 4% on average.
But the trio of banks was made to cut dividends following a call by the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) as a pre-emptive measure.
Despite all the doom and gloom, not all companies have been dealt with a dividend-cutting fate.
There have been some that have been consistent with their dividend payments, while some have even raised them.
A company that can maintain its dividend at the very least amid an economic downturn could signal to the market that it has a strong business or a positive outlook.
And investors can look into such stocks to consider investing in for their portfolio.
TL;DR: 10 Companies That Have Maintained or Raised Dividends in the Latest Quarter
| Company (with ticker) | Dividend in latest period | Dividend in corresponding period last year (Singapore cents) | Increase in dividend | Share price | Price-to-earnings ratio | Price-to-book ratio | Dividend yield |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Riverstone Holdings Limited (SGX: AP4) | 4.00 RM sen | 1.55 RM sen | 158% | S$4.11 | 45.4 | 10.5 | 0.8% |
| Sheng Siong Group Ltd (SGX: OV8) | 3.50 Singapore cents | 1.75 Singapore cents | 100% | S$1.74 | 23.2 | 6.7 | 3.0% |
| UMS Holdings Limited (SGX: 558) | 1.0 Singapore cent | 0.5 Singapore cent | 100% | S$0.995 | 13.1 | 2.0 | 4.5% |
| Venture Corporation Ltd (SGX: V03) | 25 Singapore cents | 20 Singapore cents | 25% | S$19.96 | 18.6 | 2.3 | 3.8% |
| Micro-Mechanics (Holdings) Ltd (SGX: 5DD) | 7.0 Singapore cents (includes special dividend) | 6.0 Singapore cents (includes special dividend) | 17% | S$2.15 | 22.3 | 5.5 | 4.7% |
| Keppel DC REIT (SGX: AJBU) | 4.375 Singapore cents | 3.850 Singapore cents | 14% | S$2.92 | 35.2 | 2.5 | 2.5% |
| Singapore Exchange Limited (SGX: S68) (SGX) | 8.0 Singapore cents | 7.5 Singapore cents | 7% | S$8.70 | 19.8 | 7.5 | 3.5% |
| Mapletree Logistics Trust (SGX: M44U) | 2.045 Singapore cents | 2.025 Singapore cents | 1% | S$2.10 | 21.3 | 1.6 | 3.9% |
| NetLink NBN Trust (SGX: CJLU) | 2.53 Singapore cents | 2.52 Singapore cents | 0.4% | S$0.97 | 48.4 | 1.3 | 5.2% |
| iFAST Corporation Ltd (SGX: AIY) | 0.75 Singapore cent | 0.75 Singapore cent | 0% | S$2.31 | 46.9 | 6.6 | 1.4% |
Source: Company announcements and SGX (share price and valuation data as of 1 September 2020)
Editor’s note: Some valuation metrics may not be relevant for certain type of companies, but are shown for consistency stake
Right here, out of the 10 shown above, let’s dive deeper into the top three companies.
Company #1: Riverstone HoldingsĀ
Riverstone is one of the glove manufacturing stocks that has seen a massive run-up in its share price due to strong demand for its products amid the COVID-19 pandemic.
Other than manufacturing gloves, Riverstone is also involved in the production of finger cots, cleanroom packaging bags, and face masks. Its products are widely used in the healthcare, semiconductor, manufacturing, biotechnology and pharmaceutical sectors.
For Riverstoneās six months ended 30 June 2020, its top line improved by 30.5% year-on-year to RM 626.7 million while net profit more than doubled to RM 137.5 million, surpassing its net profit for the whole of 2019.
The company said that the improvement in revenue was due to a surge in global demand for its products such as healthcare examination gloves, cleanroom gloves, and face masks.
With the vast improvement in its financial performance, Riverstone increased its interim dividend per share from 1.55 sen last year to 4.0 sen, which translates to a whopping 158% increase.
Company #2: Sheng Siong GroupĀ
Sheng Siong is a Singapore-grown supermarket chain with 61 outlets in our country. The company has also expanded into China to grow its business further.
For Sheng Siong’s first half of 2020, revenue grew 52.7% to S$747.4 million as consumers stocked up their pantries amid the coronavirus outbreak and circuit breaker measures.
With that, net profit ballooned close to 100% to S$75.2 million, helping the company dish out higher dividends to shareholders.
Sheng Siong’s dividend per share doubled from 1.75 Singapore cents to 3.50 Singapore cents.
Company #3: UMS HoldingsĀ
UMS is a one-stop integration partner providing equipment manufacturing and engineering services to original equipment manufacturers of semiconductors and related products. It serves a diverse range of industries such as semiconductor, electronic, machine tools, oil and gas industries.
For UMS’ six months to 30 June 2020, revenue increased by 28% to S$75.2 million while net profit grew 47% to S$22.3 million. The better performance was largely due to improvements in the semiconductor industry.
On the back of improved profitability, UMS managed to double its dividend, from 0.5 Singapore cent to 1.0 Singapore cent.
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Disclaimer: The information provided by Seedly serves as an educational piece and is not intended to be personalised investment advice. āReaders should always do their own due diligence and consider their financial goals before investing in any stock. The writer may have a vested interest in some of the companies mentioned.
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