Brem close to buying land for RM100m

BREM Holding Bhd, a relatively small property developer, is close to acquiring two plots of land totalling 16ha in the Klang Valley for some RM100 million, a company official said.

"We are at an advanced stage of negotiations to buy land in Wangsa Maju (Kuala Lumpur) and Petaling Jaya (Jalan 225)," executive director Low Yew Hwa told Business Times in an interview last week.

The group intends to build high-end bungalows in Wangsa Maju, while in PJ, it has plans for a commercial development comprising offices and showrooms.

Work on these projects is, however, expected to start only one or two years down the line, Low said.
Brem currently owns 200ha of land, most of which is in the Klang Valley and the rest in Sungai Petani, Kedah.

Brem, which also does construction and has a small water concession business in Papua New Guinea, made a net profit of RM11.7 million in its last financial year ended March 31 2010, some 13 per cent less than the previous year as profit recognition from its past property launches came to a tail end.

This year, however, Low is confident the group will do better, with profit from a new project it recently launched - the RM200 million Villa Orkid condominium in Segambut Dalam, Kuala Lumpur - expected to pour in.

"We've had very good response for the 412 units. We anticipate this project will give us around RM50 million to RM60 million profit over two years," he said.

Brem is also planning for the next phase of condominiums with a gross development value (GDV) of RM300 million, as well as semi-detached houses with a GDV of close to RM200 million. These will only be launched in the next financial year.

Meanwhile, he said Brem and its partners had received a letter of intent from Malaysia Airports Holdings Bhd (MAHB) to build a hotel on 2.4ha of land next to the new low-cost carrier terminal in Sepang, Selangor.

He said MAHB is currently drafting the agreement on the 25-year concession.

Brem and builder Bina Puri Bhd will construct the hotel while Nikmat Maju Development Sdn Bhd, the holding company of the Crystal Crown hotel group, will manage it.

Brem and Bina Puri will own 30 per cent and 40 per cent respectively of the project, while Nikmat Maju will hold the rest.

By Business Times