IN LATE February, when property and hotel group City Developments Ltd (CDL) posted its second-half 2021 financial results, it surprised shareholders by proposing a special distribution in specie (DIS) of 11.7 per cent of the units of its sponsored stapled group, CDL Hospitality Trusts (CDLHT).

This forms the bulk of CDL's estimated 31.1 Singapore cent total payout for FY2021, a big jump from the 12 cents in FY2020.

CDL and its top brass have said the DIS, which is subject to shareholders' nod at the annual general meeting later this month, is to reward CDL shareholders for their "unwavering support" over the past couple of years, when the group was mired in an ill-fated investment in China-based Sincere Property Group (which it has since exited) and its hotel business suffered a steep downturn in the face of the pandemic.