Hot stock: DBS up 5% on surprise dividend jump

DBS Group Holdings rose 5 per cent following a surprise dividend jump announced during its fourth quarter earnings results on Thursday morning.

As at 4.05pm, the stock was up S$1.36 to S$26.72, a 5.4 per cent rise.

DBS said it will pay S$1.20 per share in dividends from financial year 2018 onwards - double its payout in three of the past four years.

The bank also proposed a final dividend of 60 Singapore cents a share for 2017 - double that of last year - and also a special dividend of 50 Singapore cents a share, as a one-time return of capital buffers that had been built up and to mark the bank's 50th anniversary.

The news came as DBS said that earnings reached a record high of S$1.19 billion for the fourth quarter, up 31 per cent from the previous year.