SINGAPORE (Jan 6): City Developments could be expected to make more acquisitions in the coming year, after the group’s net gearing fell to 19% from the divestment of Nouvel 18 through its profit participation securities structure, and opened up a large headroom for debt.

RHB Research believes CDL’s management will make “sizeable acquisitions” in the near term to take advantage of depressed property prices, and has maintained its buy recommendation for the stock with a target price of $9.36.

According to analyst Vijay Natarajan, CDL managed to successfully monetise its Nouvel 18 project selling its 100% stake to Singapore investors for $978 million and recording a gain of $27 million. Besides lightening its balance sheet, the group also narrowly avoided paying $229 million in qualifying certificate (QC) charges.

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