Sunrise on stage 3 of growth

HAVING built up a strong brand name in the Mont'Kiara high-end condominiums market, Sunrise Bhd is embarking on the third stage of its growth to diversify its property development activities geographically.

It has since ventured to other areas including the Kuala Lumpur City Centre, Bukit Jelutong, Kajang and Seremban as well as overseas to Canada.

"The company is duplicating its success in Mont'Kiara into other localities locally and overseas. The aim is for Sunrise to create multi-products in multi-locations," Sunrise executive chairman Datuk Tong Kooi Ong says.

According to Tong, planning has been ongoing for the last couple of years and it has successfully launched phase 1 of Quintet in Richmond, Canada in September.

It is also working on the Bukit Jelutong joint venture project and several other parcels of land owned by Sunrise in various locations in the Klang Valley.

The 50:50 joint venture with Sime Darby Property Bhd for the RM1bil development on 21 acres in Bukit Jelutong will consist of retail, shop offices, office suites and serviced apartments. The project is slated for launch sometime next year.

Tong says Sunrise is also venturing into hospitality – a new business that will add to its brand value.

"The primary objective is in the operation of serviced residences. This new unit also aims to assist our existing home-owners in generating yield and occupancy for their properties through medium to long-term leasing," he adds.

Currently Sunrise has 14 residential projects (including 11 Mont'Kiara) with over 5,400 units and three commercial projects.

The company has managed to grow its sales and profits by over four-fold in six years, while profits for the entire industry remained constant during the same period, he says.

"We have built pre-tax return on equity (ROE) from 11% to over 21% during the same six-year period. This ROE is more than twice the industry's norms."

In its current financial year ending June 30, 2011 Sunrise plans to launch four projects with a total gross development value of about RM3.2bil. As at June 30 this year, it has unbilled sales amounting to RM861mil.

The company's strong pipeline of new projects that include Menara Solaris in downtown Kuala Lumpur, Quintet, Canada (phase 2), Mk20 in Mont'Kiara, Bukit Jelutong joint venture development in Shah Alam and the Kajang project, will be a boon to its financial prospects.

Since coming on the company's board in 2003, Tong has been leveraging on Sunrise's prowess in the luxurious condominium market by moving into the commercial property sector.

Up until 2002, referred to as stage 1 of the company's growth, Sunrise was very much a single-product company, developing mainly residential condominiums in Mont'Kiara. It has since moved on to stage 2, where it ventured into multiple products (commercial and residential), mostly within Mont'Kiara to target a bigger market segment.

Its products cater to the different market segments, complement the existing projects and enhance the strategic appeal of the entire community.

The Solaris range of commercial properties in the Mont'Kiara/Dutamas area aims to add value, generate retail activities, and enhance mobility and convenience within the thriving Mont'Kiara neighbourhood.

In the last eight years, it has also developed mid-sized condominiums (Mont'Kiara Meridin and Mont'Kiara Banyan) and large spacious condominiums (10 and 11 Mont'Kiara) to cater to the diifferent market segments.

Tong's vision for Sunrise is to build dream homes and create value for all stakeholders; customers, staff, shareholders and the community. He believes the company's success is not solely measured by its profitability but also by the contribution it makes to the community and how others will become better off.

Tong's strategy to achieve the vision of value creation is depicted in the Quintet Development Strategy that focuses on the five key elements of location, product quality, services, environment and lifestyle.

"Sunrise will stay committed to its business proposition of value creation and more importantly, it will also focus on delivering its brand promise to the stakeholders by continuously improving its product and service quality and managing costs more efficiently through economies of scale and innovation," he explains.

Going forward, Sunrise's brand premium will be an immense asset to the company's expansion into other new markets, both locally and abroad.

By The Star