Brisk sales at Nam Fatt’s Gallery@U-Thant

An artist's impression of Gallery@U-Thant

KUALA LUMPUR: Nam Fatt Corp Bhd has sold over 80% of the condominium units of the recently launched Gallery@U-Thant.

In a statement, it said Gallery@U-Thant, which is located in the upscale embassy residential area, was the company's maiden foray into the super high-end residential market.

Gallery is a niche 50-unit development with a gross development value of over RM200mil. Most of the units were sold within 90 days of the sales launch, largely through private invitation in collaboration with Colliers International Property Consultants, it said.

“We have been very pleasantly surprised by the tremendous market confidence in the Nam Fatt name by locals as well as expatriates. For a development in the price range of Gallery, these numbers are unheard of,” said property division general manager Erric Tan.

“We are especially appreciative of Trans Penang Inn Sdn Bhd, our strategic land owner partner, and our consultants, including Colliers International for their assistance and effort in developing new marketing, branding and public relations strategies,” he said.

Tan said the buyers were a mix of local elite and professional expatriates.

“These are not the typical buyers we marketed to in the past. This change will undoubtedly have a significant impact on our future marketing, branding and positioning endeavours,” he said.

By The Star

Hektar REIT pays higher dividends

KUALA LUMPUR: Hektar Real Estate Investment Trust has announced that the dividend per unit for the 13-month period ended Dec 31, 2007 would be 10.71 sen, 11.2% higher than it had forecast in its prospectus.

In a statement, it said gross revenue for the year reached RM78.3mil, which was 5% above forecast and net income (realised) stood at RM36.7mil.

Hektar REIT, managed by Hektar Asset Management Sdn Bhd, reported net income per unit of 11.46 sen, which was 19% higher than forecast when the REIT was launched in December 2006.

“We are happy with our full year results for 2007,” said chief executive officer Datuk Jaafar Abdul Hamid.

“Our net income exceeded our budget forecast, allowing us to distribute to our investors a larger dividend than expected, about 11.2% higher than what we promised.”

Hektar REIT's shopping mall portfolio continued to hold steady with almost full occupancy of 96.9%, of which Subang Parade is 99.9% occupied and Mahktota Parade, 93.9% occupied.

Traffic for Subang Parade increased to 7.8 million visits in 2007, up 32.6% since its refurbishment in 2006 while Mahkota Parade's traffic edged up 2.1% to 8.8 million visits in 2007.

By The Star