Hap Seng Land to beef up revenue

HAP Seng Land Sdn Bhd (HSL), the property arm of Hap Seng Consolidated Bhd, will focus on building houses in Sabah and Puchong in Selangor and increasing rental income to sustain revenue this year.

"We hope to ride on income from our investment in properties and progress billing from property sales.

"We will be cautious and offer new units at our existing townships only if there is demand. Having said that, the housing market in Sabah is still hot," HSL chief executive Datuk Paul Ng Kee Seng said.



HSL's current projects are Kingfisher Palm Homes, a high-end township in Kota Kinabalu; Bandar Sri Perdana, a 62.5ha mixed development in Lahad Datu; Bandar Sri Indah, a 342ha township in Tawau; Astana Heights, a township in Sandakan; and D'Alpinia, a township in Puchong.
They are worth a few billion ringgit and will last the company another five to 10 years, Ng told Business Times at a Chinese New Year luncheon at Menara Hap Seng in Kuala Lumpur yesterday.

By July, HSL will launch phase 1A of D'Alpinia, featuring 154 terrace and semi-detached homes costing RM300,000 to RM400,000 each, or RM60 million collectively.

HSL achieved RM191 million sales in 2007 against RM165 million the year before. It has yet to announce results for financial year 2008.

Property is the fourth biggest contributor to Hap Seng group revenue, behind fertiliser trading, plantation and building materials.

The group, which posted RM2.24 billion turnover in 2007, also has businesses such as automotive, credit financing and quarrying.

HSL is working on a plan to grow its property development and investment business, which has assets like Menara Hap Seng (formerly MUI Plaza), and office buildings, shophouses and warehouses in Sabah, including 2ha plantation land held under the company, under lease.

Ng said it was eyeing a few buildings in the Klang Valley which could reap good rental income.

Apart from new properties, it will buy old and abandoned buildings in strategic locations, and at the right price, and retrofit the properties.

By Business Times (by Sharen Kaur)