Singapore’s blue-chip earnings season has officially kicked off, and the sense of anticipation is unusually strong as the market steps into 2026.
During the week of 2 February, three heavyweight constituents of the Straits Times Index are set to report their latest financial results. For income-focused investors, the upcoming announcements from CapitaLand Integrated Commercial Trust (SGX: C38U), Keppel Ltd (SGX: BN4), and Singapore Exchange (SGX: S68) go well beyond headline earnings. They offer a crucial check-up on the durability of these companies’ dividend engines.
This reporting season is not just about top-line growth or bottom-line figures. The more revealing signals will come from operational performance and strategic execution—factors that will ultimately determine whether these blue chips can deliver sustainable and rising distributions in the year ahead.
CapitaLand Integrated Commercial Trust (CICT)
Singapore’s largest commercial REIT has been through a period of significant transformation, and investors are now waiting to see whether the heavy investment is starting to pay off.
CICT has strengthened its exposure to prime Singapore assets by acquiring the remaining 55% stake in CapitaSpring for S$1.05 billion in August 2025, while also integrating marquee retail asset ION Orchard into its portfolio. These moves underscore management’s commitment to premium properties in core locations.
For the nine months ended 30 September 2025, CICT reported gross revenue of S$1.19 billion and net property income (NPI) of S$874.2 million, representing marginal year-on-year increases of 0.1% and 0.2% respectively. However, these muted figures were influenced by divestments and timing effects. On a like-for-like basis, revenue and NPI grew by 1.2% and 1.4% year on year.
A deeper look at the retail segment tells a more nuanced story. Shopper traffic and tenant sales surged 24.8% and 19.2% respectively, but much of this strength was driven by the newly added ION Orchard. Excluding this Orchard Road flagship, growth was far more subdued, with shopper traffic rising 4.5% and tenant sales increasing just 1.0%.
The key issue for the upcoming results is whether the incremental NPI from these high-priced acquisitions can comfortably outpace higher financing costs. With aggregate leverage at 39.2% and an average cost of debt of 3.3%, investors will be watching closely to see if organic growth is sufficient to deliver meaningful DPU accretion for unitholders relying on CICT’s scale and stability.
Keppel
Keppel’s transformation from a traditional conglomerate into an asset-light, capital-efficient group has been one of the most striking corporate shifts in Singapore’s market.
Over the first nine months of 2025, the company announced around S$2.4 billion in asset monetisations, bringing total monetised value since late 2020 to an impressive S$14 billion. This week’s earnings update will shine a spotlight on the divestment of M1, a transaction expected to unlock close to S$1 billion in cash.
Keppel’s share price performance has significantly outpaced the broader market, reflecting investor confidence in management’s strategy. Executives have been explicit about returning value to shareholders, but the challenge is becoming more complex. As Keppel exits capital-intensive businesses—such as its stake in 800 Super and the M1 telecom operation—it must demonstrate that its funds-management-led model can generate stable, recurring income once large one-off gains taper off.
Attention will also be on the Real Estate division, where management has flagged a target of a further S$500 million in asset sales. The crucial question is how the proceeds will be allocated: reinvested to fuel future growth, or distributed to shareholders in the form of dividends.
Singapore Exchange (SGX)
SGX continues to stand out as the market’s quintessential “toll booth” business—and traffic has been brisk.
The exchange began the current financial year on a strong footing, with net revenue rising 11.7% year on year to nearly S$1.3 billion. Growth was driven by a sharp increase in currency derivatives trading, which jumped 49.7%, alongside solid momentum in cash equities, up 18.7%. Net profit after tax increased 8.4% to S$648.0 million, supported by higher operating profit.
What makes SGX especially attractive to income investors is the clear dividend progression outlined by management. The board proposed a final quarterly dividend of S$0.105 per share, bringing total FY2025 dividends to S$0.375, up from S$0.345 in FY2024. Beyond that, management has indicated plans to raise quarterly dividends by S$0.0025 each year through FY2028, assuming earnings continue to support the increases.
Such visibility is rare for dividend investors navigating an uncertain global environment. That said, SGX’s performance remains closely tied to market volatility and trading activity. The Fixed Income, Currencies and Commodities (FICC) segment has emerged as a key growth driver, and it will need to maintain momentum to underpin the exchange’s dividend ambitions.
This week’s results will serve as a barometer for whether the strong trading conditions seen in 2025 have carried into the new year. If SGX can sustain its revenue growth guidance of 6% to 8%, the dividend escalator should remain firmly intact, reinforcing its role as a core holding in defensive income portfolios.
Three Key Questions for Dividend Investors
This earnings week is ultimately about forward-looking confidence rather than backward-looking results.
For CICT, investors are asking whether the premium paid for ION Orchard and CapitaSpring is translating into premium returns, with DPU growth as the decisive metric.
For Keppel, the focus is on the effectiveness of the monetisation-to-dividend pipeline and whether the asset management model is scaling quickly enough to replace one-off gains.
For SGX, the central question is whether trading activity and market volatility can continue to support its steadily rising dividend trajectory.
Three blue chips. Three distinct growth paths.
The coming week should provide valuable insight into whether these STI stalwarts can continue to reward patient income investors in the year ahead.
