STI dividends in 2018 to jump 29 per cent to massive S$20.9b: IHS Markit

IT just keeps getting better and better for Singapore stock investors.

Companies in the FTSE Straits Times Index (STI) are projected to return a massive S$20.9 billion in dividends, a jump of 29 per cent, to shareholders this year, said financial data provider IHS Markit.

Aggregate dividends in Singapore are set to hit multi-year high in 2018, it said in its report on Singapore dividends on Thursday.

Year-to-date, the STI has risen almost 4 per cent year and is up some 12 per cent from a year ago.

IHS Markit said that its average forecast yield for the STI index is 3.8 per cent, the highest among other key benchmark indices in the region…