CDL shares jump 6.3% after Philip Yeo steps down from board

SINGAPORE - Shares of City Developments Limited (CDL) jumped nearly 7 per cent on July 16, a day after the company announced that long-serving director Philip Yeo would step down from the board.

CDL shares surged as much 6.8 per cent to $5.95 at 3.20pm on July 16, before closing 6.3 per cent higher at $5.92.

The company announced on July 15 that Mr Yeo, a former top civil servant,

will retire as a non-independent and non-executive director

after 16 years on the board. His last day at CDL will be July 31.

Mr Yeo became embroiled in a family feud over CDL earlier in 2025,

backing executive chairman Kwek Leng Beng

in his boardroom battle against son Sherman Kwek, the company’s chief executive.

In February, the chairman, Mr Yeo and two independent CDL directors

filed court papers to address an alleged “attempted coup”

by the CEO and other board members. The lawsuit was intended to stop Mr Sherman Kwek and majority directors of CDL from implementing a number of board resolutions.

In a surprise twist on March 12, the older Mr Kwek announced he had

decided to drop the lawsuit,

but tensions remained.

At CDL’s annual general meeting (AGM)

on April 23, Mr Yeo reportedly called on shareholders to vote against Ms Jennifer Duong Young and Ms Wong Su Yen, the two new independent directors who were appointed in February, as well as independent directors Daniel Desbaillets and Wong Ai Ai, who had sided with Mr Sherman Kwek.

Mr Yeo at the AGM said that he was “very disappointed” with how some board members had pushed through the new director appointments, calling the moves “totally improper”.

Professor Lawrence Loh, director of the Centre for Governance and Sustainability at NUS Business School, said: “While Mr Yeo’s exit from the board seems to have triggered the share price surge, this is probably the tip of the iceberg.

“The ongoing consolidation of the board membership, including re-appointments and new appointments, will give CEO Sherman Kwek a stronger hand in enhancing shareholder value.”

Prof Loh added: “It is essential that unity in CDL’s board of directors be maintained, and the utmost priority of the board is to serve the company’s interests above all else.”

RHB Singapore vice-president of equity research Vijay Natarajan said: “The latest developments are pointing to Sherman Kwek gaining greater control of the board and setting the future direction of the group, which is likely to have come as a relief to a market that is seeing the current situation as more of a compromise and stalemate.”

He added that a clear-cut resolution of the board issues and comprehensive steps to address any future recurrence, along with a well-articulated long-term strategy, could also unlock CDL’s share price, which has been “trading at a deep discount to the revalued net asset value”.

Prof Loh said CDL is seeing current momentum in value rationalisation, including recent initiatives such as the sale of the company’s stake in the South Beach mixed project, alongside future possibilities in streamlining non-core assets.

Mr Yeo, 78, will still be on the board of 20 other companies after his resignation from CDL’s board. These include Sunway and Indofood Agri Resources.

Among other credentials, Mr Yeo holds a master’s in business administration from Harvard University and a Doctor of Science from Imperial College, London.

He was previously a special adviser for economic development in the Prime Minister’s Office, and former executive chairman of the Economic Development Board.