The Straits Times Index (STI) is often seen as the bellwether of Singapore’s stock market, comprising 30 of the country’s largest and most established companies.
Year-to-date (as of the close on 24 December 2024), the STI has risen 17.3% to 3,770 points. With its strong showing, the index is well on its way to being the best-performing stock market in Southeast Asia for 2024.
While the STI represents a solid benchmark, not all its constituents perform equally. Some stocks rise above the rest, delivering returns that beat the index’s overall performance. In week’s edition of 4 Stocks This Week, we’ll highlight five STI stocks that have outperformed the index thus far in 2024.
Yangzijiang Shipbuilding Holdings Ltd (SGX: BS6)
Yangzijiang is one of the largest non-state-owned shipbuilding companies in China and among the top players globally.
It specialises in building a variety of vessels – including bulk carriers, container ships, and liquefied natural gas (LNG) carriers – at its four shipyards in Jiangsu Province, China along the Yangtze River. Year-to-date, the shipbuilder’s shares have surged over 90%, and is likely to be the best-performing company of the STI.
Source: Google Finance
For its financial year ended 31 December 2023, total revenue increased by 16.5% year-on-year to RMB 24.1 billion. The growth was due to higher new build vessel prices and favourable foreign exchange rates. Meanwhile, net profit grew 57% to RMB 4.1 billion. With the higher profit, the company declared a 30% increase in dividend to 6.5 cents per share.
Source: Yangzijiang FY2023 Earnings Presentation
Yangzijiang continued its strong showing for the first half of 2024. Revenue increased by 15.3% year-on-year to RMB 13 billion while net profit ballooned 77.2% to RMB 3.1 billion. The company has a total outstanding order book of US$20.2 billion (a record-high) for 224 vessels, providing earnings visibility up to mid-2028.
Ren Yuanlin, Yangzijiang’s executive chairman, commented on the company’s prospects in the earnings release:
“The energy transition push continues to be the focal point in the maritime industry given the accelerated regulatory developments in the past few years. Our recent success is a testament to the forward-looking mindset of the leadership team. Today, we are well-equipped to deliver cutting-edge vessels that meet the environmental criteria of our customers and the industry.
We are not resting on our laurels just yet as we set our eyes on capacity expansion to match the robust demand trajectory anticipated for clean energy vessels. Furthermore, we are also looking at diversifying our revenue stream with the operations of an LNG terminal, which provides recurring and defensive income in the long run. These will ensure that we remain at the forefront of the maritime industry and maintain our market leadership position.”
At Yangzijiang’s share price of S$2.91, it has a price-to-earnings (P/E) ratio of 11.3x and a dividend yield of 2.2%.
The Three Local Banks
Singapore’s three listed banks, DBS (SGX: D05), OCBC (SGX: O39), and UOB (SGX: U11), also did well in terms of their share price performance.
| Bank | Year-to-date share price increase (as of 24 December 2024) |
| DBS | 43.6% |
| OCBC | 27.6% |
| UOB | 27.4% |
All three banks reported strong financial results for the 2024 third quarter.
DBS, the largest bank among the trio, saw its revenue grow 11% year-on-year to S$5.8 billion. Meanwhile, its third-quarter net profit rose 15% year-on-year, surpassing S$3 billion for the first time.
The strong showing for the quarter was on the back of robust balance sheet growth, record fee income led by wealth management, higher treasury customer sales, and the strongest markets trading income in over two years.
DBS declared a quarterly dividend of S$0.54 per share for the third quarter, bringing the total dividend for the first nine months of 2024 to S$1.62 per share.
Source: DBS 3Q2024 Earnings Presentation
DBS’ board also announced a new S$3 billion share buyback programme where shares will be purchased in the open market and cancelled. The move will enhance the bank’s earnings per share (EPS) and raise its return on equity (ROE), which stood at 19% for the quarter.
As for its outlook, DBS chief executive Piyush Gupta said:
“We achieved another record performance in the third quarter. Commercial book net interest margin was supported by reduced interest rate sensitivity of our balance sheet, while wealth management drove fee income to a new high as a benign macroeconomic and interest rate outlook buoyed investor confidence. The new buyback programme we announced today is underpinned by our strong capital position and ongoing earnings generation, and it is another affirmation of our commitment to capital management. We remain well positioned to continue delivering healthy shareholder returns.”
Elsewhere, OCBC’s 2024 third-quarter revenue grew 11% year-on-year to S$3.1 billion driven by strong non-interest income growth and lower allowances. UOB’s quarterly revenue increased by 11% to S$3.8 billion on the back of broad-based revenue growth.
Here’s a quick comparison of the valuation metrics of the three banks:
| Bank | Share price (as of 24 December 2024) | Price-to-earnings ratio | Price-to-book ratio | Dividend yield |
| DBS | S$43.60 | 11.3x | 1.97x | 5.0% |
| OCBC | S$16.59 | 9.8x | 1.35x | 5.3% |
| UOB | S$36.24 | 9.6x | 1.36x | 4.9% |
SATS Ltd (SGX: S58)
SATS provides food solutions and gateway services solutions, largely to the aviation industry. The food solutions segment provides in-flight catering and institutional catering, among other things. Meanwhile, the gateway services division offers services such as ground and cargo handling, passenger and security services, and baggage handling services.
Year-to-date, SATS’ share price has increased by over 30%, beating the STI.
Source: Google Finance
For the six months ended 30 September 2024 (1H FY25), SATS’ revenue grew 14.8% year-on-year to S$2.8 billion, with both businesses of food solutions and gateway services solutions performing well. Regionally, revenue also increased across the board.
Source: SATS 1H FY25 Earnings Presentation
With higher operating profit and improvements in earnings from the share of associates/joint ventures, net profit came in at S$134.7 million, reversing from a net loss of S$7.8 million seen a year ago.
With the strong financial performance, SATS declared an interim dividend of 1.5 Singapore cents per share. Last year, it didn’t declare any interim dividend.
As for its outlook, SATS mentioned the following in its earnings release:
“SATS expects the positive momentum to continue in the next quarter as the demand for travel and cargo reaches its seasonal year-end peak. With our global network and expanded scale, we will continue to leverage the strong growth trends by improving operational efficiency and introducing new product offerings, further solidifying our global leadership position.”
At SATS’ share price of S$3.61, it has a P/E ratio of 17.3x and a dividend yield of 0.8%.
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