Blue Chip Stocks: 10 Singapore Blue Chips With High Dividend Yield
Sudhan P●
Who wouldn’t love a steady stream of dividends coming into our bank accounts?
Dividends, for one, can supplement our regular paycheque.
Among the blue-chip stocks, there are a number of companies with market-beating dividend yields.
What this means is that they have higher dividend yields than Singapore’s stock market benchmark, the Straits Times Index (STI).
The SPDR STI ETF (SGX: ES3), which can be taken as a proxy to the STI, currently has a dividend yield of 3.1%.
Here are the top 10 stocks with the highest dividend yields (data from Shareinvestor; as of time of writing on 17 June 2021).
10. Taking the 10th spot with a dividend yield of 3.8% is Singapore Technologies Engineering Ltd (SGX: S63), or ST Engineering as we commonly know it. Right now, ST Engineering’s share price stands at S$3.92.
The integrated defence and engineering group has been paying consistent dividends of 15.0 cents per share each year from 2016 to 2020. In terms of dividend payout ratio, it has ranged from 80% to 100% during the time frame.
ST Engineering didn’t have a great 2020 as it was hit by headwinds brought about by the COVID-19 pandemic. Its revenue for the year tumbled 9% year-on-year to S$7.16 billion while its net profit declined by 9.7% to S$521.8 million.
9. Dairy Farm International Holdings Ltd (SGX: D01), which owns well-known brands like Cold Storage, Giant, and 7-Eleven, sports a dividend yield of 3.9% at its share price of US$4.27.
For 2020, its dividend per share fell 21% year-on-year to 16.5 US cents, down from 21 cents the previous year. The latest dividend represents around 82% of its earnings for the year.
| Total dividend per share (US cents) | Dividend payout ratio | |
|---|---|---|
| 2016 | 21.00 | 62% |
| 2017 | 21.00 | 71% |
| 2018 | 21.00 | 79% |
| 2019 | 21.00 | 89% |
| 2020 | 16.50 | 82% |
8. Slotting into the eighth spot is industrial real estate investment trust (REIT) Mapletree Industrial Trust (SGX: ME8U). At its unit price of S$2.81, it has a distribution yield of 3.9%.
For its financial year ended 31 March 2021 (FY20/21), Mapletree Industrial Trust’s distribution per unit (DPU) grew 2.5% to 12.55 Singapore cents, despite the pandemic.
Since listing in October 2010, the REIT has dished out consistently increasing DPU.
The industrial REIT recently raised around S$823.3 million through preferential offering and private placement to acquire 29 data centres located in the US. The acquisition is expected to be DPU accretive to unitholders.
7. Sporting a dividend yield of 4.0% and taking the seventh spot is Venture Corporation Ltd (SGX: V03).
Founded in 1989 and headquartered in Singapore, Venture is a global electronics services provider that can support design, manufacturing, and e-fulfilment of high-mix, high-value and sophisticated products.
The company has consistently paid dividends since its listing in 1992. Over the past five years, Venture’s dividend per share has increased from 50 Singapore cents in 2016 to 75 cents in 2020, giving an annualised growth rate of 10.7%.
6. Mapletree Logistics Trust (SGX: M44U), which is also a feature of our 2021 stocks report, slots into the sixth spot with a distribution yield of 4.1% at its unit price of S$2.03.
For FY20/21, the REIT’s DPU grew 2.3% to 8.326 Singapore cents, up from 8.142 cents a year ago.
The growth came on the back of its gross revenue rising 22.6% to S$157.0 million and net property income (NPI) growing 19.1% to S$136.7 million.
The growth was largely due to:
- Higher revenue from existing properties;
- Contributions from acquisitions completed in FY19/20 and FY20/21; and
- Contribution from a completed redevelopment of Mapletree Ouluo Logistics Park Phase 2 in Shanghai, China.
5. Coming into the fifth spot is yet another REIT. And this time it’s CapitaLand Integrated Commercial Trust (SGX: C38U), which was formed from the merger between CapitaLand Commercial Trust (CCT) and CapitaLand Mall Trust (CMT).
CapitaLand Integrated Commercial Trust (CICT) sports a distribution yield of 4.1% at its unit price of S$2.10.
CICT’s 2020 DPU declined by 27.4%, from 11.97 Singapore cents to 8.69 Singapore cents. But interestingly for CICT’s 2021 first-quarter, its retail tenants’ sales rose 2.9% while its portfolio committed occupancy was a healthy 95.9% (as of 31 March 2021).
4. The third Mapletree REIT that’s part of the STI, Mapletree Commercial Trust (SGX: N2IU) takes the fourth spot with a distribution yield of 4.4% at its unit price of S$2.14.
The REIT, which owns five office and retail assets in Singapore, including VivoCity, saw its FY20/21 DPU rise 18.6% to 9.49 Singapore cents, up from 8.00 cents a year back.
The increase was largely due to a release of cash retained from the fourth quarter of FY19/20 to conserve liquidity amid the pandemic. For FY20/21, the REIT’s gross revenue and NPI declined by 0.8% and 0.2% respectively.
Now we are on to the top three stocks with the highest dividend yields.
3. With a dividend yield of 4.4% at its share price of US$4.95, Hongkong Land Holdings Limited (SGX: H78) steals the third spot.
Hongkong Land is a property investment, management, and development firm with assets in various Asian cities including Singapore. In our country, the firm has stakes in properties such as Marina Bay Financial Centre, One Raffles Quay, and One Raffles Link.
Over the past five years, from 2016 to 2020, Hongkong Land’s dividend per share has risen from 19.0 US cents to 22.0 cents, translating to an annualised growth of 3.7%.
The company’s dividend payout ratio in terms of underlying earnings has hovered around 50% during the time frame, which is conservative. Underlying earnings refers to Hongkong Land’s core business and excludes items such as fair value gains or losses on the revaluation of investment properties.
2. Coming in second is Frasers Logistics & Commercial Trust (SGX: BUOU), which joined the STI on 13 April after replacing Jardine Strategic.
Frasers Logistics & Commercial Trust has a distribution yield of 4.7% at its unit price of S$1.40. The REIT now owns 103 properties across five countries, including Singapore, after its merger with Frasers Commercial Trust.
For Frasers Logistics & Commercial Trust’s first half of FY2021 (financial year ending 30 September 2021), DPU stood at 3.80 Singapore cents, 9.5% higher than the previous year. Its merger with Frasers Commercial Trust certainly helped to boost the DPU.
1. Taking pole position is Singapore’s largest industrial REIT Ascendas Real Estate Investment Trust (SGX: A17U) with a distribution yield of 4.8% at its unit price of S$2.93.
From 2003 to 2020, Ascendas REIT’s DPU grew from 8.05 Singapore cents to 14.688 cents, up 3.6% annually. Its growth came from both acquisitions and developments.
In the first quarter of 2021, Ascendas REIT acquired 11 data centres across five key European cities for S$904.6 million and that should contribute to DPU going forward.
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Disclaimer: The information provided by Seedly serves as an educational piece and is not intended to be personalised investment advice. Readers 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 the companies mentioned.
