RM600m asset sale

MK LAND Holdings Bhd, a property developer, aims to sell non-core assets worth up to RM400 million to fund new projects that will be launched from next year.

The developer also plans to sell 9.2ha at its Damansara Perdana township in Petaling Jaya for RM200 million and pockets of land elsewhere to pare debt.

"This is all part of our reorganisation strategy to turn around MK Land," chief executive officer Tan Sri Mustapha Kamal Abu Bakar told Business Times in an interview in Damansara Perdana yesterday.

Mustapha Kamal, who returned to helm the company in June after a brief spell with his private companies, outlined the details of his three-year plan to rejuvenate MK Land last week.
Central to the plan is the sale of assets. They include properties under its leisure and education divisions, such as the Bukit Merah Laketown Institute of Allied Health Sciences, Taiping Golf Resort and Bukit Merah Laketown Resort in Perak and the Langkawi Lagoon Resort in Kedah.

MK Land is in talks with potential buyers for some of the properties and hopes to seal deals next year, Mustapha Kamal said.

As for new launches next year, it has lined up the Northwest project in Damansara Perdana comprising hillside semi-detached homes. It will also relaunch Armanee Terrace Block B. Both are worth some RM250 million collectively.

MK Land has eight current projects in Kedah, Perak and the Klang Valley worth more than RM10 billion.

Since Mustapha Kamal took over on June 25, MK Land has returned to profitability, after losing money in 2007 and 2008.

In the first quarter to September 30 2008, it posted net profit of RM4.9 million while revenue more than doubled to RM77 million as it sold 240 completed units between June and October.

MK Land has appointed Lau Shu Chuan, Balasundram R., Fatimah Wahab and Yusof Abu Othman as chief operating officers to handle specific tasks.

The four were roped in from Emkay Group and its associate firm, Setia Haruman Sdn Bhd, the master developer of Cyberjaya.

Emkay Group is controlled by Mustapha Kamal.

Besides developing low-, medium- and high-end properties, MK Land will also develop purpose-built office buildings to enhance profit margins.

It also plans to venture into India and Brunei.

By Business Times (by Sharen Kaur)