What connects Singapore’s oldest company, a credit bureau with remarkable 50% net profit margins, and a US real estate investment trust focused on grocery retail?

They all deliver dividend yields that stand shoulder to shoulder with their blue-chip counterparts, supported by robust balance sheets.

For those investors eager to broaden their retirement income sources beyond mainstream choices, here are three dividend-paying stocks that merit further examination.

Boustead Singapore Limited

Boustead Singapore Limited, established in 1828, holds the distinction of being Singapore’s longest-running continuous business.

Currently, the Group operates through four main divisions: Geospatial (Esri ArcGIS distribution across the Asia Pacific), Real Estate Solutions (design-and-build and development management), Energy Engineering (process heater systems for the oil and gas industry), and Healthcare (rehabilitative care solutions).

In the six months ending 30 September 2025 (1HFY2026), Boustead reported revenue of S$294.0 million, showing little change compared to the previous year.

Net profit attributable to shareholders fell 3% year on year to S$34.9 million.

The Geospatial Division was a standout, achieving record revenue of S$118.7 million for the half-year, driven by multi-year subscription contracts in Australia and Singapore, marking a 10% rise from a year ago.

This growth helped offset underperformance in Real Estate Solutions (a decline of 9% to S$95.6 million) and Healthcare (a drop of 24% to S$5.2 million).

Even though free cash flow turned negative at S$23.1 million, historically, Boustead has consistently generated positive free cash flow.

While this merits attention, it appears to be more of a timing issue rather than a structural problem.

A highlight remains the company’s strong balance sheet.

As of 30 September 2025, Boustead had cash holdings of S$316.8 million against borrowings of just S$34.3 million, resulting in a strong net cash position of S$282.5 million.

This financial health allowed the Board to maintain an interim cash dividend of S$0.015 per share, consistent with the previous year.

Looking forward, the Group has secured around S$193 million in new contracts since the inception of 1HFY2026, including a significant project exceeding S$100 million in November 2025.

The engineering order backlog now stands at S$396 million, ensuring earnings visibility.

With a share price of S$1.73, Boustead Singapore offers a dividend yield of 4.3%.

Credit Bureau Asia Ltd

Credit Bureau Asia, or CBA, provides essential credit and risk information for banks, financial institutions, government bodies, and public agencies throughout Southeast Asia.

Whenever a loan or credit card is approved in Singapore, Cambodia, or Myanmar, CBA’s data usually plays a critical role.

In the first half of 2025 (1H2025), CBA recorded revenue of S$30.2 million, up 2.2% year on year.

However, net profit attributable to owners declined 8.0% to S$5.4 million, mainly due to increased operating expenses and reduced contributions from joint ventures.

The Financial Institution (FI) data segment showed strong performance, with revenue climbing 7.6% year on year to S$14.0 million, thanks to a rise in new credit applications and portfolio monitoring services.

Conversely, the Non-FI data business saw its revenue decrease by 2.1% year on year to S$16.2 million amid a cautious economic climate.

Despite these challenges, CBA maintained net profit margins exceeding 50%, highlighting the scalability of its data-driven business model.

Free cash flow generation remained solid at S$12.7 million, a slight drop from S$13.4 million in the previous year.

The balance sheet remains strong, with S$67.3 million in cash and no debt.

CBA declared an interim dividend of S$0.020 per share, unchanged from the prior year, indicating management’s confidence in the company’s fundamental strengths.

At a share price of S$1.28, the stock offers a trailing dividend yield of 3.1%.

United Hampshire US REIT

United Hampshire US REIT (UHREIT) manages a portfolio of 20 grocery-anchored and necessity-based retail properties along with two self-storage facilities across eight US states.

In the third quarter of 2025 (3Q2025), gross revenue grew by 1.4% year on year to US$18.1 million, while net property income rose by 5.7% to US$12.7 million.

The main narrative is the rising distributable income, which increased by 15.5% year on year to US$7.0 million in 3Q2025 — largely due to reduced finance costs following lower interest rates, with SOFR decreasing by 1.5% since 4Q2024.

The REIT’s distribution per unit (DPU) for the first half of 2025 surged 4% year on year to US$0.0209, demonstrating how interest rate reductions can enhance REIT distributions.

Operational metrics remain robust, with grocery properties at a committed occupancy of 97.2% and self-storage facilities at 94.9%.

Management has been strategically recycling capital, divesting Albany-Supermarket in January 2025 for US$23.8 million (4.2% above purchase price) and acquiring Dover Marketplace in Pennsylvania for US$16.4 million in August 2025, anticipated to boost DPU by 2%.

The REIT currently offers a strong dividend yield of 8.3% based on its share price of US$0.51.