Average indicative dividend yield of 7.1% for business trusts

THE average indicative dividend yield of business trusts listed on the Singapore Exchange (SGX) is 7.1 per cent, says a June 25 market update issued by SGX. This compares with an average dividend yield of 6.9 per cent in the May 20 update.

SGX has 10 listed business trusts - after the CitySpring Infrastructure Trust completed its acquisition of Keppel Infrastructure Trust in May - with a combined market capitalisation of S$14.3 billion. They trade at an average price-earnings ratio of 12.7, and have notched up average price gains of 5.1 per cent so far this year, said the report, posted on SGX's My Gateway investor education portal on Thursday. Accounting for dividend distributions brings their total average return to 9.2 per cent. And the average one-year dividend-adjusted return works out to 18.5 per cent.

Of the 10 trusts, First Ship Lease Trust, Keppel Infrastructure Trust and Ascendas India Trust were the top three performing in the year thus far, in terms of total dividend-boosted returns. Containership and tanker owner First Ship Lease Trust, which tops the 10 with a year-to-date return of 70.6 per cent, has benefited from stronger demand for tankers, after a period of losses due to shippers' lease defaults during the sector's downturn over the past few years.