Billionaire Kwek's CDL sees muted profit rise after feud
(Bloomberg) – The Singapore developer controlled by the city-state's richest clan reported a small increase in profit in the first half of the year, a period overshadowed by a damaging family feud.
City Developments Ltd.'s net income rose 3.9% to S$91.2 million ($71.1 million) in the first half of 2025 compared with a year ago. Revenue meanwhile increased to S$1.69 billion, an 8% jump.
The firm said its profit growth was significantly hit by the US dollar's depreciation, which affected loans denominated in the currency, and weaker performance from its hotel operations segment.
The country's second-largest developer by market capitalisation has sought to move on from a tussle between the father-son duo that leads the firm. It broke out just around its last earnings release in February and led to a short-lived lawsuit filed by Executive Chairman Kwek Leng Beng and other directors against the rest of the board, including his son and Chief Executive Officer Sherman Kwek, over an alleged boardroom coup.
CDL's shares gained as much as 6.5% in morning trading Wednesday to reach their highest intraday level since December 2023.
'We have put past issues behind us, emerging stronger and more unified,' said the elder Kwek in a statement. 'The board and management are aligned and focused on effective execution and value creation.'
Since then, the younger Kwek has made it a priority to reduce the company's debt load. A key strategy has been divestments – most notably, the sale of a majority stake in a S$2.75 billion office complex located in the heart of Singapore agreed earlier this year. It's inked about S$1.5 billion of divestments so far this year, which includes hotels in the US and other smaller commercial properties in Singapore. But CDL has also sought to make S$1.2 billion in investments, such as in land plots in the city-state.
'There's a pipeline of many more divestments to come,' the CEO said at a press conference on Wednesday. 'We're also going to seize on good opportunities that allow us to grow our future land bank,' he added.
CDL is also planning to seek an initial public offering of a real estate investment trust for its UK commercial assets 'at the right time,' Sherman said.
The firm's net debt-to-equity ratio – which includes the fair value on investment properties – edged down slightly to 70% from 72% at the end of the first quarter.
Investors have so far cheered these efforts, with an upgrade from JPMorgan Chase & Co. in July. Along with a broader rally in property shares driven by a continued boom in the financial hub's residential market, the firm's shares has outperformed the country's benchmark stock index this year, with more than double its gains.
Still, challenges remain. Tensions among board members were laid bare during a shareholders' meeting in April. More recently, a longtime ally of the patriarch chairman retired at the end of July after criticising some fellow directors at the meeting.
(Updates with share movements and CEO's comments from press briefing. An earlier version corrected the first name in the photo caption.)
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