Blue chips are stable and often provide investors with peace of mind, and most of them also pay dividends to increase income. The following four blue chips are not only stable and reliable, but also have growth potential, suitable for building a portfolio to balance growth and dividend income.

OCBC (SGX: O39)

OCBC is the second largest bank in Singapore, providing a full range of banking, investment and insurance services.

In the first half of 2024, OCBC's total revenue increased by 7% year-on-year to S$7.3 billion; net interest income increased by 3% year-on-year to S$4.9 billion; operating profit increased by 7% year-on-year to S$4.5 billion; net profit hit a new record of S$3.9 billion, an increase of 9% year-on-year. OCBC increased its interim dividend by 10% to S$0.44 per share.

Although the net interest margin fell slightly to 2.23%, average assets increased by 5% year-on-year, offsetting the impact of rising costs. CEO Huang Huiling said the bank is confident that it will achieve its low-single-digit loan growth target for 2024.

Genting Singapore (SGX: G13)

Genting Singapore operates the Resorts World Sentosa (RWS) integrated resort.

RWS' revenue surged 25% year-on-year to S$1.36 billion in the first half of 2024, helped by a strong recovery in the tourism industry. The company's operating profit rose 29% year-on-year to S$451 million, while net profit rose 29% year-on-year to S$357 million. The company generated S$261 million in free cash flow in the half year and declared a 33% increase in interim dividend per share to S$0.02.

The first phase of the RWS 2.0 upgrade plan is expected to be soft-launched in early 2025, with new attractions including USS Minion Land and Singapore Ocean Aquarium, as well as a central living corridor and an all-suite hotel to replace the Hard Rock Hotel.

Singapore Exchange (SGX: S68)

Singapore Exchange (SGX) is the sole stock exchange operator in Singapore.

SGX's revenue rose 3.1% year-on-year to S$1.2 billion in the financial year 2024. Excluding one-off items, net profit increased 4.5% year-on-year to S$526 million. Based on the good performance, SGX raised its quarterly dividend to S$0.09, or an annualized dividend of S$0.36.

SGX's foreign exchange business showed strong growth, with average daily OTC foreign exchange trading volume almost doubling from US$59 billion in fiscal 2021 to US$111 billion in fiscal 2024.

SGX will continue to expand its product portfolio, focusing on the Chinese and Indian markets, while realizing synergies in its iron ore and freight businesses and looking for new customers in Asia and Europe.

Singapore Technologies Engineering (SGX: S63)

Singapore Technologies Engineering (STE) has a wide range of businesses in aerospace, smart cities, defense and public safety.

In the first half of 2024, STE's revenue increased by 13.5% year-on-year to S$5.5 billion, operating profit increased by 17.7% year-on-year to S$523 million, and net profit increased by nearly 20% year-on-year to S$337 million. The company declared an interim dividend of S$0.04, bringing the total dividend for the past 12 months to S$0.16.

STE secured S$6.1 billion in contracts in the first half of 2024, with a total order book of S$27.9 billion as of June 30, 2024, of which S$4.9 billion is expected to be delivered this year.