CDL H1 profit up 3.9% to S$91.2 million on robust condo sales; declares higher special dividend of S$0.03

[SINGAPORE] Property developer City Developments Ltd (CDL) posted a 3.9 per cent year-on-year rise in first-half net profit to S$91.2 million on Wednesday (Aug 13).

This was up from S$87.8 million in the first half of 2024.

It translates to a basic earnings per share (EPS) of S$0.097 against an EPS of S$0.092 in the year-ago period. 

H1 revenue was up 8 per cent at S$1.69 billion, driven by CDL’s fully sold joint venture executive condominium project, Copen Grand, which was completed in April 2025, and other contributing projects.

The board declared a special interim dividend of S$0.03 per share, a slight increase from S$0.02 per share a year prior.

The group paid a dividend of S$0.0193 per preference share in June, calculated at the dividend rate of 3.9 per cent per annum for the period from 31 December 2024 to 29 June 2025. The dividend was paid on 30 June 2025. This was marginally down from 2024’s first half preference dividend of S$0.0194 at the same rate.

The group said it continues to have a key focus on capital recycling, with over S$1.5 billion in divestments achieved in the year to date. It anticipates a further gain of S$465 million from the sale of its 50.1 per cent stake in the South Beach mixed-use development in Q3 2025.

A net foreign exchange gain of S$51.3 million last year reversed to a loss of S$63.1 million in the first half of this year, as the depreciation of the US dollar (USD) significantly affected the group. This was primarily due to USD-denominated intercompany loans extended to fund previous US hotel acquisitions and working capital requirements.

Combined with weaker performance from the hotel operations segment in Singapore and the US, as well as inflationary cost pressures, it meant that the segment reported a pre-tax loss of S$84.4 million for H1.

The property development segment was once again the largest revenue contributor with a 24.3 per cent jump, driven by Singapore projects such as The Myst, the divestment of the Ransome’s Wharf site in London and the sale of the office component of Suzhou Hong Leong City Center in China.

The group said net gearing ratio inched up by 1 percentage point to 70 per cent, with average borrowing costs falling to 4 per cent from 4.4 per cent in the year-ago period.

The counter closed flat at S$6.35 Tuesday.

In July, long-time member Philip Yeo stepped down from the CDL board, having notably backed executive chairman Kwek Leng Beng’s bitter boardroom battle against his son, CEO Sherman Kwek, in early 2025.

In a statement on Wednesday, the elder Kwek said that the CDL’s executives have “put past issues behind us” and that the “board and management are aligned and focused on effective execution and value creation”.

He had announced his goal of trebling the group’s hotel numbers to 500 earlier this month. CDL currently has over 160 hotels in its portfolio.

The younger Kwek concurred with his father’s sentiments, saying: “Despite some instability in the earlier part of the year due to internal issues, the ensuing period has been marked by stabilisation, renewed alignment and disciplined execution.”

He added: “While the operating environment remains fluid, the potential easing of interest rates offers further upside as we continue to pursue our capital recycling and fund management initiatives.”