Dear readers, amidst the current saga surrounding City Developments Limited, there have been many viewpoints expressed by analysts and commentators.
I do not like viewpoints that just ride on the saga for increased viewership as I don’t think it is good. Rather, I prefer viewpoints that are fair, unbiased and objective.
Last week, I was intrigued by a local commentary on a possible City Developments Limited and Guocoland merger. Guocoland is another listed entity on Singapore Stocks Exchange.
According to the commentary, the author was of the view that perhaps amidst the current slate of affairs facing City Developments Limited, Mr Kwek Leng Beng could possibly join forces with his cousin, Quek Leng Chan, who helmed Guocoland for a merger to form a larger property conglomerate and leaves a legacy. To me, the suggestion is an exciting prospect but only if it makes business sense for City Development Limited and Guocoland as talk is easy though this imagination is an exciting one.
Amidst this exciting prospect, let us take a look at some of the fundamentals of both City Developments Limited and Guocoland as of 28 Feb 2025 as below.
City Developments Limited
Total Market Cap: $4.6 Billion
Price-to-Book: 0.503
Dividend yield: 1.56%
Guocoland Limited
Total Market Cap: $1.7 Billion
Price-to-Book: 0.35
Dividend yield: 4.11%
If a merger between City Development Limited and Guocoland is to materialise, the combined cap of the merged conglomerate will be around $6.3 Billion and will make the merged entity even a stronger and larger force to be reckoned with.