CDL shares end 7% up after board declares special interim dividend

CEO expects 'outsized divestment' in 2025, hints at handsome rewards for shareholders

- Angela Tan

City Developments Limited (CDL) stocks surged in early trade on Aug 13 on the back of a special interim dividend and hints that there are more goodies to come.

The shares opened at $6.41 after the developer unveiled its first-half results and quickly climbed to $6.89, up more than 8 per cent. They eventually closed at $6.80, up 7 per cent.

Chief executive Sherman Kwek told a briefing that CDL will try to pay one-third of its net income as dividends every year.

He added that when the firm has a "nice bonanza with big divestments, we will try to reward our shareholders more. But on the whole, every year, we try to stick to a one-third payout ratio".

"I think we have had a track record where whenever we have had strong years, we always tended to reward our shareholders handsomely," he said.

"This year, we are expecting quite an outsized divestment. So hopefully we will have a nice surprise for all of you."

Mr Kwek noted that shareholders received a total payout of 31.1 cents a share in the 2021 financial year, most coming from a special distribution in specie amounting to 11.7 per cent of the units in CDL Hospitality Trusts. This came as the group swung into the black.

CDL generated net profit of $91.2 million in the six months to June 30, 2025, up 3.9 per cent from a year earlier, while revenue grew 8 per cent to $1.7 billion.