Monday, June 8, 2015

Singapore Dividend Yields: Singapore Maintains Highest Dividend Yields in Asia !

  • The FTSE Singapore Index – used for country comparisons - maintains a dividend yield of 3.4%, which is the highest index yield among the region’s 11 indices which average a 2.3% yield.
  • Ancillary to the Index, the FTSE Singapore Index lists 51 active stocks with dividend yields at or above 3% and market cap above S$1 billion. These 51 stocks averaged a 4.6% total return in the 2015 year through to 3 June.
FTSE Group provides an alternate Index series that enables international like-for-like comparisons of stock markets - this includes 11 Asian indices, which have performances expressed in total returns in US Dollars, while providing a monthly updates on dividend yields. These FTSE Countries Indices can be found on page 10 of the FTSE Asia Monthly Index Report – found here.

As illustrated below, at the end of May, the FTSE Singapore Index maintained a yield of 3.41%, which was the highest among the 11 indices in Asia.
Source: FTSE Group

The FTSE Singapore Index dividend yield of 3.41% is more than 1.00% higher than the 2.32% average yield of the comparative FTSE Indices for Asia.

The FTSE Singapore Index is a broader and much less known index than the Straits Times Index (STI), and a part of a global equity index series used for global comparisons. Due to the global equity index methodology, the FTSE Singapore Index does not include Jardine Matheson Holdings, Jardine Strategic Holdings and Hongkong Land. For a country’s index to be constructed and included in the FTSE Global Equity Index Series, it must have a minimum of three companies which pass all the eligibility criteria.

The FTSE Singapore is made up of both large cap and mid cap stocks. Among these stocks, most are STI stocks and some are the largest stocks of the FTSE ST Mid Cap Index. The index also does not include secondary listings. The table below details the 11 FTSE Indices relevant to Asia and the number of constituents represented in each of the indices.
Source: FTSE Group

Billion Market Cap & Dividend Yields at 3% or Higher
There are currently 51 stocks listed in Singapore that maintain a market capitalisation greater than S$1 billion with a dividend yield greater than or equal to 3.0%.

Together the 51 stocks averaged a 4.6% total return in the 2015 year through to 3 June. The highest total returns among the 51 stocks in the year thus far were generated by Sheng Siong Group, Yangzijiang Shipbuilding (Holdings), First REIT

China Merchants Holdings (Pacific) and Mapletree Greater China Commercial Trust. These five stocks averaged a 20.8% total return in the year to date, whereas the five least performing stocks of the group averaged a 9.6% decline.

Hutchison Port Holdings Trust, Asian Pay Television Trust, Lippo Malls Indonesia Retail Trust, OUE Hospitality Trust and CDL Hospitality Trusts currently maintain the highest indicative yields. According to another market update from June 2014, Asian Pay Television Trust, Hutchison Port Holdings Trust and OUE Hospitality Trust also maintained the highest indicative yields this time last year (click here to view).

The table below details the 51 stocks, sorted according to market capitalisation.
Source: SGX (Data as of 3 June 2015)
*yield based on latest distribution and annualised according to payment frequency

Source: My Gateway

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