3 Singapore Blue-Chip Stocks with Dividend Yields of 6% or Higher

Investors are turning to blue-chip companies in an increasingly volatile stock market.

Blue-chip stocks have the advantage of possessing a long track record coupled with recognition of their market share or dominance within an industry.

Most of them also pay out a dividend that acts as a source of passive income for investors.

If you are looking for solid blue-chip names with high dividend yields, here are three that sport dividend yields of 6% or more.

DBS Group (SGX: D05)

DBS is Singapore’s largest bank by market capitalisation and offers a comprehensive range of banking, insurance, and investment services to its customers.

The lender reported an admirable set of earnings for the first quarter of 2024 (1Q 2024).

Net interest income rose 8% year on year to S$3.6 billion.

Together with a 23% year-on-year increase in fee and commission income, total income climbed 13% year on year to S$5.6 billion.

With expenses increasing by just 10% year on year, the bank’s net profit rose 15% year on year to S$3 billion.

DBS declared an interim dividend of S$0.54 per share, 42% higher than the S$0.38 paid out a year ago.

At the annualised dividend of S$2.16 per share, DBS’s shares offer a forward dividend yield of 6.1%.

Although geopolitical risks remain, CEO Piyush Gupta expects the group’s net interest income to be modestly better than 2023 levels.

Total income will also be one to two percentage points higher than the previous guidance for a mid-single-digit year on year growth.

In addition, non-interest income growth should be in the mid-to-high teens percentage because of better-than-expected traction in wealth management and treasury customer sales.

All in, DBS expects 2024’s net profit to be above last year’s levels.

Mapletree Logistics Trust (SGX: M44U)

Mapletree Logistics Trust, or MLT, is an industrial REIT with a portfolio of 187 properties spread out across eight countries.

The REIT’s assets under management stood at S$13.2 billion as of 31 March 2024.

MLT just released its fiscal 2024 (FY2024) earnings for the year ending 31 March 2024.

Gross revenue inched up 0.4% year on year to S$733.9 million while net property income remained flat year on year at S$634.9 million.

The logistics REIT’s distribution per unit (DPU) came in slightly lower year on year at S$0.09003.

The REIT’s units provide a trailing distribution yield of 6.7%.

Portfolio occupancy stood high at 96% with the REIT having a weighted average lease expiry by net lettable area of three years.

It also reported a positive rental reversion of 2.9% for its latest quarter.

MLT’s aggregate leverage stood at 38.9% with sufficient debt headroom to take on more debt for yield-accretive acquisitions.

For FY2024, the REIT conducted over S$1.1 billion of acquisitions for 12 modern, Grade A properties in countries such as Japan, South Korea, and Australia.

The manager also divested nine properties with older specifications to unlock value, all at a premium to their valuations.

MLT is active in capital recycling and also has an ongoing redevelopment project at 51 Benoi Road which is set to be completed by the first half of next year.

Hongkong Land Holdings Ltd (SGX: H78)

Hongkong Land, or HKL, is a property development, management, and investment company that owns and manages more than 850,000 square metres of prime office and luxury retail properties.

These properties are spread out across Singapore, Beijing, Jakarta, and Hong Kong.

For 2023, revenue fell by 17.8% year on year to US$1.8 billion because of lower sales of development properties due to weak market conditions in China.

However, underlying net profit dipped by just 5% year on year to US$734 million for the property giant.

HKL kept its dividend per share constant at US$0.22 per share for 2023, giving its shares a trailing dividend yield of 6.8%.

Despite the weaker results, the group has 5.2 million square metres of assets under development including West Bund and nine luxury and premium retail assets for lease in China.

These retail assets will be completed in stages from 2024 to 2028.

Last year, the group acquired US$1.3 billion of new land and properties including a Chongqing site with a developable area of 301,000 square metres.

HKL also completed the acquisition of equity stakes in two mixed-use projects in Nanjing and Wuhan from joint venture partners.

For Singapore, the group acquired two residential sites with a total developable area of 584,000 square feet.

In Jakarta, HKL made two acquisitions to increase the land bank for its 50% joint venture residential development business.

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Disclosure: Royston Yang owns shares of DBS Group.

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