Crescendo to launch RM166mil projects

PETALING JAYA: Crescendo Corp Bhd intends to launch about RM166mil worth of industrial and commercial properties over the next two years, says managing director Gooi Seong Lim.

“We hope the property segment will perform better in the current financial year,” Gooi told StarBiz in a telephone interview recently.

Gooi Seong Lim

In the fourth quarter ended Jan 31, net profit surged 114% to RM9.4mil compared with RM4.4mil in the previous corresponding period.

Revenue jumped 150% to RM44.1mil from RM17.6mil before. Crescendo had attributed the improvement to higher sales of industrial properties.

So far, Crescendo has launched RM269mil worth of industrial properties, RM131mil residential and RM80mil commercial units.

The unbilled portion so far is about RM80mil, thanks to the good sales of factories in the Nusa Cemerlang Industrial Park (NCIP), which has a total gross development value of RM1bil.

After completing the first batch of 50 factories in NCIP, it is now pre-building the second batch of 40 units.

Singaporeans are the main buyers of its factories in NCIP. The risk of a global economic slowdown will prompt manufacturers to be more cost conscious.

“It’s only logical (for Singaporeans) to move to NCIP given the huge cost difference between Singapore and Johor. NCIP is just 10 minutes’ drive from Tanjung Pelepas Port and close to Tuas, Singapore. Singaporeans would be able to control operations due to the close proximity,” Gooi said.

Crescendo is also confident of its pre-building strategy, which allows it to lock in cost earlier. “It makes us more cost competitive than our peers given the rising and firm prices of building materials,” Gooi said.

He said sales of commercial and residential units were doing “reasonably well.” The launches are usually in small packages of about 50 to 60 units each.

Meanwhile, the company plans to double capacity of its concrete manufacturing by setting up a second plant.

Demand for concrete manufacturing continued to be firm, thanks to the location of its two ready-mix plants in Nusajaya, Gooi said.

TA Securities, in a recent report, said Crescendo’s ability to switch between residential, commercial and industrial developments set it apart from its competitors.

The higher manufacturing capacity would also allow it to export grade concrete piles and precast concrete products for local and Singapore consumptions, said the brokerage, which has a “buy” call on the stock.

By The Star - StarBiz - (by Yeow Pooi Ling)