Pulai Springs Bhd expects to achieve a record net profit in the current financial year ending December 31 2010 and is even more positive about its outlook in 2011, its top official says.
Executive director Nick Mah Siew Chean, who emerged as the new major shareholder in the company three years ago, said things are looking brighter after a difficult run in 2008 and 2009.
Excluding an extraordinary gain from the sale of the Novotel in Kuala Lumpur, the hospitality-cum-property developer would have posted a net loss in the financial year ended December 31 2009.
"The years 2008 and 2009 were tough for us. We expect to return to the black this year. Operationally we are positive," Mah told Business Times in an interview.
In the first half ended June 30 2010, the resort operator posted a net profit of RM221,000 and revenue of RM25.15 million.
"We expect to achieve the best year in terms of bottom line this year, since the takeover from the previous owners in 2007," Mah said.
The expected better performance this year and next will be attributed by sales of the remaining 85 units of Cinta Ayu All Suites. A total of 300 units were built within Pulai Springs Resort.
The company has made some RM80 million from the sale of the units and expects the remaining units will be sold by end-2011 and fetch RM50 million in sales.
Pulai Springs also plans to launch some niche developments within the resort. It has 3.2ha of land available for development. It is now conducting a feasibility study to decide on the type of property units it should build. The units are likely to be launched at end-2011.
In 2007, Mah took over Pulai Springs from one of its founders, Datuk Chua Jui Leng, and emerged as a major shareholder.
Meanwhile, Mah dismissed talks in the market that the company was up for sale. "We are here for the long term," he said, adding that the units within the resort were the ones that are available for sale.
On foreign ventures, Mah said Pulai Springs will look for opportunities for both hotel operations and property development in China. These projects can be via acquisition of existing assets or be built from scratch.
"We understand the China market and are confident about China," he said, when asked if Pulai Springs is looking at other countries within the region.
This is because his family business already operates a 18-room hotel in Kunming, China.
Although a joint-venture agreement to jointly bid for a development project in Kunming was withdrawn in July following unsuccessful negotiations, Mah said the company will continue to pursue for other projects in the republic.
By Business Times
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