Thursday January 13, 2011
By ANGIE NG
angie@thestar.com.my
KUALA LUMPUR: Mah Sing Group Bhd has set an ambitious sales target of RM2bil to RM2.5bil for the current financial year ending Dec 31 (FY11), which will be a 70% increase over the RM1.5bil recorded in FY10.
The company will be lining up RM2.5bil to RM3bil worth of new projects for launch this year.
Group managing director and chief executive Tan Sri Leong Hoy Kum said Mah Sing had grown into one of the most diversified property players with a full range of projects in the residential, commercial and industrial sectors. It will continue to build a stronger presence in the mid to high-end property market.
»We target to buy prime land in the Klang Valley, Penang and Johor« TAN SRI LEONG HOY KUM
Coming off an aggressive acquisition spree last year, the company has 33 projects in various parts of the country now. In 2010, Mah Sing made 10 land transactions involving 295 acres at a total cost of RM756mil.
Leong said 2011 would be another “acquisition year” for the group.
“We target to buy prime land in the Klang Valley, Penang and Johor with the potential to generate projects to the tune of RM7bil to RM12bil in gross development value,” Leong told StarBiz.
He said although the company's landbank was enough to sustain it for the next seven years, it still saw the need to stock up on good land, preferably a sizable piece of between 500 and 2,000 acres.
Leong said Mah Sing had the balance sheet to fund the acquisition. As at Sept 30, 2010, the company had a cash pile of RM232mil. It is also close to finalising the RM325mil nominal value seven-year redeemable convertible secured bonds and will be able to draw down the cash proceeds these two months.
Besides making outright purchases, Leong said Mah Sing was also open to joint ventures with land owners.
“Of the projects planned for launch this year, some 35% will comprise landed residential properties, 40% will be high-rise residences and 25% industrial. They will be well located projects with cutting edge yet practical designs,” Leong added.
Its landed housing projects in the Klang Valley, comprising bungalows, superlink and semi-detached units, will include Garden Residence in Cyberjaya, Kinrara Residence in Puchong, One Legenda and Hijauan Residence in Cheras. In Penang, the new launch will be Legenda@Southbay.
Its range of high-rise residential projects include M-City@Jalan Ampang, Icon Residence@Mont' Kiara, Icon Residence and Ferringhi Residence@Penang Island, and Austin Suites@Johor Bahru.
Commercial projects targeted for launch in the first half this year include Star Avenue@D'sara and Icon City@Petaling Jaya. These comprise three-storey shop offices in Star Avenue@D'Sara, while Icon City@Petaling Jaya will comprise seven- to eight-storey shop offices, retail lots and home offices as well as residential blocks.
Meanwhile, the third industrial project under the iParc series, iParc3@Bukit Jelutong, will also be launched by mid-year.
Leong said Mah Sing was also evaluating opportunities in high-growth countries like China, India, Vietnam, Singapore, Australia and Indonesia.
Its maiden overseas project will be located in Changzhou City in China. The 87-acre mixed residential and commercial project will be launched in the second half.
For the first nine months of 2010, Mah Sing recorded RM87mil profit after tax and minority interest, a 25% improvement compared with RM69mil for the same period in 2009. It also has unbilled sales of RM1.2bil during the period.
