Tan Sri Mustapha Kamal
The property developer’s chief executive officer Tan Sri Mustapha Kamal Abu Bakar said the company would, however, slow its resort and property developments in Perak and Langkawi.
“We have ample land-bank in the Klang Valley and we need not start new projects. If we just focus on the existing ones in the next three to four years, we still can survive this economic downturn,” he told StarBiz.
“Even if the projects in the northern states are not profitable, it is fine as we will still be making profits from the projects in the Klang Valley because of their locations,” he said.
The company has a land-bank of 6,776 acres with potential gross development value of RM19.7bil. It has 623 acres in Damansara Perdana, 399 acres in Damansara Damai and 59 acres in Cyberia.
MK Land is in the midst of planning and is seeking approval from the authorities for its projects in Perak and Langkawi. It will wait for the right time to launch those projects.
In the first seven months of its current financial year ending June 30, MK Land recorded RM150mil in sales, said Mustapha, who made his comeback and assumed executive powers again in June after a one-year-plus hiatus.
Mustapha said his team had put in a lot of effort doing marketing, and thus he was confident the company could achieve healthy growth going forward. “I believe that we will be able to ride through the hard times if we tighten our belt, work harder and sell more,” he said.
The company was expected to sell some 907 properties worth RM438mil in 2010 and 838 worth RM487mil in 2011, said Mustapha.
Its ongoing projects in Damansara Perdana comprise the Armanee Terrace duplex condominiums, the Rafflesia three-storey semi-detached bungalows and Metropolitan Square commercial and residential development.
Mustapha said all the ground work, including piling and facilities, was completed when the first block of Metropolitan Square condominiums and retail units were launched.
“If we build the last two of the five condominium blocks now, comprising 448 units worth RM196mil, we will bring in solid profit,” he added.
With the lower construction costs due to the sharp fall in raw material prices, Mustapha said the company would plough back the savings into its projects, including repackaging the property products to benefit the buyers.
Of the 45,964 properties launched by the company so far, 42,829 worth RM5.1bil had been sold, he added.
“We have a huge land-bank and by offering various types of properties, we can adapt to any economic condition,” Mustapha said.
On the company’s Tasik Bukit Merah mixed development project in Perak, Mustapha said the nursing college there (which is part of the development) was doing very well.
“We want to expand the college further under the second phase of development.
“Instead of totally relying on the tourist market, we believe that by having a college, we will be able to create a critical mass for our project there,” he said.
By The Star (by Rachael Kam)
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