Dear readers, the City Development Limited (CDL) saga is the top news for Singapore stocks markets this week. I should not elaborate more on the details of the saga as it has been widely reported in the media.
As Singapore continues to absorb the details and potentially more details (e.g. today I read about Catherine Wu) of the saga, I just want to highlight 3 things for all of us to know, 3 things that are actually objective.
First, City Development Limited (CDL) stock, at this time of writing is currently still being suspended from trading. CDL stock last closed at $5.12 on 25 Feb 2025. For the past year, CDL stock is down by 11.42%. For the past 5 years, CDL stock is now by about 47.6%. This is the first objective thing to know in relation to the saga: CDL stock has not been doing well.
The second objective fact is in relation to the saga itself, as we have read from the news, there were accounts from both Mr Kwek Leng Beng and Mr Sherman Kwek on the matters related to the disagreement. But I believe the goal of both is similar, i.e. for the betterment of CDL despite there could be different in management styles.
Last but not least, having look at the past performance of CDL stock and the present saga, we turn to the future. CDL is a listed entity and an investor in CDL stock will inevitably and naturally expect and want CDL stock to continue to perform well and good. I believe CDL investors will not really be interested in how CDL is run as long as the company continues to deliver good capital growth for CDL investors. This is only naturally expected and practical. I believe in the short term, CDL stock price may be affected by the saga and the longer-term performance for the stock will be naturally based on the business fundamentals of the company.
As the saying goes, there are always opportunities in times of crisis. I am of the view that the silver lining from the CDL saga is that Singaporeans, investors or not, have a more internal understanding of the efforts of both the Executive Chairman and Group CEO in doing good for the company, notwithstanding the different viewpoints that both may hold.