Mr Sherman Kwek, Group Chief Executive Officer of CDL, said, “Amidst macroeconomic challenges, we accelerated our Growth, Enhancement and Transformation (GET) strategy. The challenging market conditions last year presented us with attractive acquisition opportunities, enabling the Group to significantly expand our portfolio and strengthen our growth prospects.”

“In 2023, we completed about S$2.4 billion of strategic investments to grow our development pipeline, enlarge our living sector portfolio, enhance our recurring income stream and expand our hospitality footprint. In 2024, we will adopt a prudent approach to new acquisitions while proactively pursuing divestments to recycle capital. We remain steadfast in pursuing our fund management aspirations, leveraging our expertise and significant asset base to create new platforms,” he added.

Growth – To build development pipeline and recurring income streams

The challenging market conditions in 2023 presented attractive acquisition opportunities, enabling the Group to significantly expand its portfolio and strengthen its growth prospects. CDL made S$2.4 billion in global acquisitions and investments in 2023.

In FY 2023, CDL acquired 31 Private Rented Sector (PRS) assets and developments, including two PRS developments in Manchester (1NQ) and London (Morden Wharf), and 29 assets in Japan. Its current portfolio has approximately 4,800 PRS units across the UK, Japan, the US and Australia, and close to 2,400 beds under the Purpose-Built Student Accommodation (PBSA) housing in the UK.

It also made three hotel acquisitions, namely Sofitel Brisbane Central (Australia) with 416 rooms, Nine Tree Premier Hotel Myeongdong II, Seoul (South Korea) with 408 rooms, and Bespoke Hotel Osaka Shinsaibashi (Japan) with 256 rooms.

In Singapore, the company has completed 2,400 units across five projects – Piermont Grand (820 units), Haus on Handy (188 units), Boulevard 88 (154 units), Sengkang Grand Residences (680 units), and Amber Park (592 units).

Currently, it has a launch pipeline of about 1,800 units comprising Union Square Residences (formerly Central Mall and Central Square), Champions Way, Lorong 1 Toa Payoh, and Newport Residences.

Enhancement – To enhance asset portfolio and drive operational efficiency

In 2023, Jungceylon Shopping Center in Phuket completed its asset enhancement initiative (AEI) and achieved 90% occupancy. By the Lunar New Year 2024, shopper traffic was triple that of the same period in 2023.

City Square Mall in Singapore commenced its AEI in Q3 2023 which will add around 26,000 sq ft of floor space.

Hotel operations recovered strongly. The Group’s hotel revenue per available room (RevPAR) grew 25.3% to S$168.7 for FY 2023 (FY 2022: S$134.6), exceeding 2019’s pre-pandemic levels by 22.0%, primarily fuelled by strong average room rate (ARR) growth. All regions recorded extraordinary RevPAR growth year-on-year (y-o-y), especially Asia and Australasia.

Three hotels opened last year. They are M Social Suzhou (China) with 294 rooms, M Social Phuket (Thailand) with 418 rooms, and The Singapore EDITION with 204 rooms.

Plans to expand the M Social brand under the Group's subsidiary, Millennium & Copthorne Hotels Limited (M&C), remains on track.

Transformation – To transform businesses via new platforms, strategic investments, fund management, innovation and venture capital

Fund management forms an integral part of CDL’s transformation strategy. Through strategic partnerships and investments in listed platforms such as CDL Hospitality Trusts (CDLHT) and IREIT Global, as well as other initiatives, the Group has continued to strengthen its fund management business.

As at 31 December 2023, the Group's AUM amounts to US$3 billion.