Sunrise pays RM179m for land near Petronas Twin Towers

SUNRISE Bhd may carry out a mixed development project on a piece of prime land opposite the Petronas Twin Towers where Wisma Angkasa Raya now sits.

This could include hotels, offices and service apartments, executive chairman Tong Kooi Ong said in a briefing in Kuala Lumpur yesterday.

Plans will be finalised by the third quarter of 2009.

"We'll get the best architects to come up with an iconic structure," he said.

The property developer, under a deal with Reliance Pillar Sdn Bhd and Lembaran Segimaju Sdn Bhd, will pay RM179 million for the 69,171sq ft land on which the building is situated, or an equivalent of RM2,588 psf.

That price is a record for land bought for redevelopment in the Kuala Lumpur City Centre area.

Wisma Angkasa Raya, which is around 29 years old, is Kuala Lumpur's first high-rise office building. The unencumbered property is a 24-storey commercial building comprising a 20-storey office tower and a four-storey podium with two basement carparks.

It has a total net lettable area of 167,728 sq ft and an occupancy rate of 96.4 per cent.

Sunrise reported a net profit of RM45 million for the fourth quarter to June 30 2008, a 28 per cent jump from the same quarter a year ago.

Revenue improved 48 per cent to RM258 million.

Sunrise has a dividend policy of 35 per cent of the group's profits but for the financial year ended June 2008, there is no cash dividends.

"We've already informed shareholders that Sunrise bought shares from the open market and gave out treasury shares in lieu of cash," Tong said.

By New Straits Times (by Ooi Tee Ching)