“A troubling aspect of the article is the claim that Dr. Wu’s “protégés still hold positions in the hotel business”. If true, any opportunity for CDLs CEO, Sherman Kwek, to streamline the hotel business would be a positive sign,” JP Morgan says.
In a report dated July 15, JP Morgan upgraded CDL to a “buy”, with a June 2026 price target of $6.85.
The sale of South Beach to IOI Properties, the potential sale of other non-core assets, such as the Mortlake site in London, earnings recovery from recent declines in borrowing costs and Sora, extra profit recognition from projects delayed last year and potential special dividends and/or share buybacks should aid in the share price re-rating, JP Morgan had said.
In a note on July 21, JP Morgan says: “We believe that with the majority of board directors now aligned with Sherman and the retirement of Phillip Yeo, a dissenting director, Sherman has greater flexibility to improve CDL’s operations and dispose of non-core assets to close the substantial 50% discount to book value.”
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They add: “Furthermore, in our view, CDL’s board and management are motivated to repair their reputations following the earlier dispute, with a recovering share price being the best approach. CDL remains one of our top picks in the Singapore property sector.”
