STI Dividends brings 2012 YTD total return to 15.02%

Over the first two weeks of July, the STI gained 4.07%. This brought the STI 2012 YTD price gain to 13.20%, placing Singapore at the top of the world’s major stock markets in terms of performance.

The total return of the STI in the 2012 YTD amounts to 15.02% with approximately 1.82% in dividend return added to the 13.20% price gain.

The 2012 YTD total returns of the 30 STI stocks have varied from -28.55% for Wilmar to +44.31% for CapitaMalls Asia.

For the 29 STI stocks that pay dividends, indicative yields vary from 0.70% for Jardine Strategic and City Developments to 5.59% for Starhub.

Over the first half of July, the Straits Times Index (STI) gained 4.07%.  This brought the 2012 year-to-date (YTD) price gain to 13.20%. The YTD return of 13.20% places Singapore at the top of the world’s major stock markets in terms of performance.  In SGD terms, the 2012 year-to-date gains of the Dow Jones Industrial Average and Hang Seng Index are +2.03% and +1.19% respectively.

The 13.20% price gain of the STI is not inclusive of the dividends that have be paid on constituent stocks over the first six months. Each of the 30 constituents stocks are weighed in the index according to the size of the stock, that is its market capitalisation. Thus, with its 10% STI weighting, the dividend of SingTel will have more impact on the total return of the STI than the dividend of Starhub with its less than 1% STI weighting.

Taking the index weightings of the 30 STI stocks into consideration with the respective dividend distributions in 2012, the total return of the STI in the YTD amounts to 15.02%. That is, 13.20% in price return and 1.82% in dividend return.

The total return of the 30 constituent stocks, in addition to indicative dividend yields are detailed below. The indicated dividend yield, consists of the most recently announced dividend amount, annualised based on the payment frequency, then divided by the last price. In this case, the last price is the Friday close.

For instance in the case of CapitaMall Trust, the most recently announced divided of S$0.023 is then annualised to S$0.092 based on a quarterly distribution and divided by the Friday close at  S$1.945. This produces an indicative dividend yield of 4.73%.

Total Return of 30 Stocks that make up the Straits Times Index
STI Constituents SGX Code Price Change YTD (%) Indicative Total Return (%) YTD Dividend Yield (%) CapitaLand Ltd C31 34.47 2.03 37.33 CapitaMall Trust C38U 14.41 4.73 16.7 CapitaMalls Asia JS8 42.92 0.93 44.31 City Developments C09 28.27 0.7 29.28 ComfortDelgro Co C52 14.13 3.72 16.62 DBS Group Holdings D05 23.09 3.95 25.6 Fraser And Neave F99 25.65 2.31 29.06 Genting Singapore G13 -9.27 0.73 -8.73 Global Logistic Properties MC0 24.79 1.37 24.79 Golden Agri-Resources E5H 0.7 2.56 3.22 Hongkong Land USD H78 31.72 2.68 34 Jardine Cycle & Carriage C07 -3.37 3.3 -0.57 Jardine Matheson USD J36 12.14 2.37 14.08 Jardine Strategic USD J37 16.91 0.7 17.49 Keppel Corp Ltd BN4 16.45 3.97 19.17 Neptune Orient Lines N03 -1.78 0 -1.78 Noble Group Ltd N21 -2.21 1.88 -0.42 OCBC Bank O39 16.22 3.3 18.17 Olam International O32 -12.68 2.69 -12.68 Sembcorp Industries U96 32.61 2.8 36.45 Sembcorp Marine S51 33.75 2.21 35.17 SIA Engineering S59 21.87 5.02 21.87 Singapore Press Holdings T39 8.94 3.98 10.93 Singapore Tech Eng S63 23.69 2.16 25.32 Singapore Telecom Z74 12.3 4.55 12.3 Singapore Airlines C6L 4.33 1.89 4.33 Singapore Exchange S68 6.04 4.15 7.33 StarHub Ltd CC3 23.02 5.59 26.9 United Overseas Bank U11 26.98 3.09 29.77 Wilmar International F34 -29 1.72 -28.55
Source: Bloomberg, 13 July 2012

Total Return of 30 Stocks that make up the Straits Times Index

The performances of the 30 stocks of the STI have varied with four out of five STI stocks producing a YTD return by both measures of price gain and total return.  As detailed in the table, performances have varied from a total return of -28.55% for Wilmar to +44.31% for CapitaMalls Asia. For the 29 STI stocks that pay dividends, indicative yields vary from 0.7% for Genting to 5.6% for Starhub.

With reporting season to soon begin in earnest, investors are reminded that the weekly economic calendar provides dates of earnings reports and ex-dividend dates. Investors are reminded that buyers of the stock on the ex-date will not receive the most recently declared dividends. Subscription to the calendar is available here.

Dividends declared by Singapore Exchange (SGX) listed companies will be distributed either in cash or shares. For cash dividends, investors can opt for cheque payment or direct crediting services. The latter mode will provide the investor with the convenience of receiving Singapore-dollar dividends in the designated bank account directly on payment date. Investors can hence save the time and hassle of making a trip to the bank to deposit your cheques.

Source from SGX