CDL offers three-cent signal that recovery is underway, but value-unlocking is still key

If the property group's depressed shares are to realise their full potential, it has to follow through with big value-unlocking moves

Ben Paul

Published Mon, Aug 16, 2021 · 05:50 AM

Mark to Market

CITY Developments (CDL) gave investors a signal this past week of what could lie ahead for its core business divisions - by announcing a special interim dividend of S$0.03 per share with its half-year results.

To put that in context, for 2020 - a year blighted by the pandemic and revelations that its investment in China-based Sincere Property Group (SPG) had gone spectacularly awry - CDL waited until it reported its final results to unveil a special dividend of S$0.04 in addition to a final ordinary dividend of S$0.08.

For 2019, CDL paid a special interim dividend of S$0.06 as well as a special final dividend of S$0.06, on top of a final ordinary dividend of S$0.08.

My own interpretation of the timing and size of the latest S$0.03 special dividend is that CDL's board believes the company is not in the best of shape but that the outlook for its cor…