CDL CEO Sherman Kwek’s FY2025 pay jumps 71% to S$5.1 million as group profit triples

[SINGAPORE] City Developments Ltd ( CDL ) chief executive officer Sherman Kwek will be paid S$5.1 million in total compensation for FY2025, marking a 70.8 per cent increase from the S$2.97 million that he earned the year before.

His compensation for FY2025 comprises S$990,644 in fixed salary, including an annual wage supplement; S$2.5 million in bonuses; S$121,925 in board or committee fees, and S$86,364 in other benefits, the group said in its annual report published on Tuesday (Mar 31).

The package also includes a long-term incentive of S$1.4 million. CDL said the final payment of this incentive will vest only if predetermined “stretched targets” are met over a three-year performance period.

For the previous year, Kwek’s remuneration totalled S$2.97 million. It included S$990,364 in fixed salary, S$1.8 million in bonuses, S$124,911 in board or committee fees, and S$86,248 in other benefits.

The chief executive had voluntarily forgone his long-term incentive grant of S$1.4 million for FY2024.

Meanwhile, executive chairman Kwek Leng Beng – the father of Sherman Kwek– received S$7.4 million in total compensation in FY2025, 24.3 per cent higher than the roughly S$5.9 million earned in FY2024. 

Of the S$7.4 million he received, S$1.5 million was in fixed salary, S$5.6 million in bonuses, S$133,636 in board or committee fees, and S$185,605 in other benefits.

The larger compensation packages for both Sherman Kwek and Kwek Leng Beng followed a 213 per cent increase in CDL’s profit for FY2025 to S$629.7 million, from S$201.3 million for the previous year. 

Non-executive director Philip Yeo, who left the company on Jul 31, 2025, earned S$55,818 from board or committee fees in FY2025, from S$91,000 in FY2024.

For the other non-executive directors:

• Philip Lee received S$272,717;
• Colin Ong received S$132,717;
• Daniel Desbaillets received S$211,083;
• Chong Yoon Chou received S$128,583;
• Carol Fong received S$221,167;
• Tang Ai Ai (also known as Wong Ai Ai) received S$225,633;
• Jennifer Duong Young received S$184,542; and
• Wong Su Yen received S$123,325.

CDL attributed the surge in its FY2025 profit to strong capital recycling gains and a “spectacular performance” by its property development segment, even with S$155 million in impairments and foreseeable losses for overseas properties.

These included the sale of a 50.1 per cent stake in the South Beach mixed-use development in H2 to Malaysian partner IOI Properties for S$834 million, which yielded a S$465 million gain.

CDL’s projects, The Orie in Toa Payoh and Zyon Grand in River Valley, also saw strong take-up rates of over 80 per cent over their launch weekends. 

“To maximise shareholder returns, we are actively reviewing our growth strategy, portfolio structures and capital allocation priorities,” said Sherman Kwek at an earnings briefing in February.

“We have taken decisive steps to unlock value from mature and non-core assets, while selectively redeploying capital to drive growth.” 

He added that key areas include rightsizing its portfolio and reviewing capital allocation across markets and asset classes. This includes CDL’s UK development legacy portfolio of five properties, worth about S$800 million as at end-2025, after two asset sales over the last two years. 

In an interview with The Business Times in early March, a CDL spokesperson said further divestments could be on the cards for assets deemed mature, capital-intensive or where value has already been substantially crystallised.