Mah Sing has RM3b projects in the pipeline

Mah Sing's group MD says there will be sustained demand in mid-tier to high-end properties, both landed and high rise in the residential, commercial and industrial segments.

Mah Sing Group Bhd, Malaysia's fifth largest property developer by revenue, is ready to roll out RM3 billion worth of new launches this year on positive domestic economic outlook.

Group chief executive and managing director Tan Sri Leong Hoy Kum said he was bullish on sales moving fast paced as ripple effects from recent government initiatives will bring more to buy properties.

Speaking to Business Times, Leong said initiatives under the Economic Transformation Programme and 10th Malaysia Plan should boost property demand with expected increase in job creation, urbanisation, the standards of living and income level.

He expects wealth creation from the local stock market to also have an impact on the property sector as gains are invested in physical properties.
"The property market has done well in 2010 and we are confident that the momentum is sustainable into 2011 as the current buying pattern is backed by fundamentals of the economy and purchasers," Leong said.

Leong feels there will be sustained demand in mid-tier to high-end properties, both landed and high rise in the residential, commercial and industrial segments.

Mah Sing's new launches will comprise a mix of landed residential, niche size serviced residences, shop offices, retail units, small office/home office and industrial.

Leong said projects featuring lifestyle elements and community living with facilities like a clubhouse and pool will continue to do well.

To meet the demand in this segment, Mah Sing will offer Garden Residence in Cyberjaya, Kinrara Residence in Puchong, One Legenda and Hijauan Residence in Cheras, and Legenda@Southbay on Penang island.

These projects will feature superlink homes, semi-detached homes and bungalows.

Mah Sing will also offer smaller units for serviced residences and condominiums in the second half of this year to provide easier entry for investors, leading to higher take-up rates. Here, it will roll out M-City@Jalan Ampang, Leong said.

The company will also launch Icon Residence and Ferringhi Residence in Penang, and Austin Suites in Johor Baru, Johor.

For commercial projects, Mah Sing intends to launch Star Avenue in Damansara, and Icon City in Petaling Jaya in the first half of this year.

Meanwhile, the third industrial project under the iParc series, iParc3@Bukit Jelutong, will be launched by mid-year.

Leong said in line with the company's strategy of a fast turnaround, it will preview these new projects soon, while scouting for prime land.

"Although our landbank is enough to sustain us for the next seven years, we are looking for sizeable pieces of land and we have the balance sheet to fund the acquisition," he said.

Mah Sing, which has a cash pile of RM233 million, made 10 land transactions involving 118ha for RM756 million last year.

By Business Times

Mah Sing upbeat on achieving RM2.5b sales

Mah Sing Group Bhd is expected to be one of the best performers this year, with a bullish sales target of RM2.5 billion.

The target is 70 per cent more than 2010 and the highest on record.

Group chief executive and managing director Tan Sri Leong Hoy Kum told Business Times he was confident of Mah Sing meeting the sales target considering it has 33 ongoing projects valued at over RM9 billion and RM3 billion worth of new launches planned for this year.

Leong said the confluence of strong fundamentals and its branding, locations, concepts and products will make 2011 another good year for Mah Sing.

The company is one of the fastest growing property development companies in Malaysia and the most diversified property player as it offers products in various segments.
Its products offering are mainly commercial projects, mixed development and medium-to-high end residential properties with focus on the Klang Valley and Penang. Mah Sing also has township projects in Johor, and all these offer stable earnings stream.

The company's revenue and net profit, over the past five years, has grown at a compounded annual growth rate of 8.2 per cent and 14.3 per cent respectively.

The growth was achievable because of Mah Sing's quick turnaround strategy in developing smaller parcels of prime landbank that offer quicker turnaround timeframe.

The strategy had enabled the company to unlock land value in shorter timeframes and free up cashflow.

MIDF Research opined that Mah Sing's 2010 financial results, to be released by end-February, is expected to exceed 2009's top and bottom lines by 37 per cent and 20.9 per cent respectively (base on consensus forecast).

For fiscal 2009, Mah Sing posted a net profit of RM94.3 million on revenue of RM701.6 million.

On the company's stock movement, MIDF said investor's confidence in Mah Sing has improved after undergoing transformation with consistent growth of revenue and earnings as well as maintaining a healthy balance sheet over the past five years.

By Business Times

Encouraging sales in second half of 2010 likely to continue, says Johor Rehda

A view of the clubhouse in Horizon Hills in Nusajaya. Nusajaya has become a property hotspot in Iskandar Malaysia.

JOHOR BARU: Property developers in Johor can look forward to a better year ahead as the industry in the state is beginning to show signs of recovery.

The chairman of the Johor chapter of the Real Estate and Housing Developers Association (Rehda) Simon Heng said a majority of its members reported encouraging sales in the second half of 2010.

“Our members are upbeat that the momentum is likely to continue this year and probably until the first quarter of 2012, provided there are no unforeseen circumstances in the economy,'' he told StarBiz.

Heng noted that in the last Malaysia Property Expo (Mapex) held here in November, the 33 developers which took part in the four-day event raked in RM300mil in sales over a one-month period compared with RM140mil recorded in April.

He said the 30-day period starting from the first day of Mapex was the benchmark used by Rehda to determine the value of sales by participating developers.

Heng said the RM300mil was the highest figure recorded in the history of Mapex Johor in many years and attributed the jump in sales to factors such as the improvement in the regional economy after the 2008-2009 global recession, and an increase in the number of first time buyers and “upgraders” in the local property market.

“Many first-time house buyers and upgraders bought their properties in the second half of 2010, as they anticipated that prices of properties were going to increase further this year,'' Heng said, adding that prices of residential properties in Johor had increased by 10% in the second half of last year, and would increase further between 5% and 10% within the next six months.

Heng said commercial properties and industrial buildings had recorded even higher price increases of between 20% and 30% as demand for these properties increased in the recent years.

Driving factor

Higher prices of buildings materials as well as labour woes, especially a shortage of Indonesian workers, who form much of the workforce in the construction industry, have also contributed to rising property prices, according to Heng.

“Iskandar Malaysia will continue to be the driving factor in boosting demand for properties in the southern-most part of Johor, especially the high end residential properties,'' he said.

SP Setia Bhd executive vice president Datuk Chang Khim Wah said property buyers had accepted that an increase in the prices of properties in Johor was inevitable, as the same was happening in other parts of the country.

Despite that, buyers were coming back to the market, especially first-time house buyers and upgraders, on anticipation that propety prices would continue to rise, he noted.

Chang said there was an equal division between first timers and upgraders in its four ongoing projects in Johor namely Bukit Indah, Setia Tropika, Setia Indah and Setia Eco Gardens.

He said the completion of several major ongoing road projects in Iskandar Malaysia such as the New Coastal Highway, Eastern Dispersal Link Expressway and Senai-Pasir Gudang Desaru Expressway in the next one to two years would improve connectivity in the southern-most part of Johor.

“We also see the demand for strata-title properties in the Johor Baru market going up in the recent years and we are going to tap on this growing segment,'' said Chang.

He said buyers for the strata-title properties were mostly young professionals, newly married couples, expatriates working in Iskandar and Malaysian professionals working in Singapopre.

Chang said prospective buyers in the Johor Baru property market were now becoming more selective and demanding and wanted more than just roofs above their heads unlike 10 to 15 years ago.

He said they were willing to pay more for their properties and had high expectations, including better designs, layout, amenities, nice landscaping and safety and security features.

Country View Bhd marketing manager Andrew Tan said 2010 was generally a bullish year for developers in Johor compared with 2008 and 2009, which was considered “slow years ” for many developers due to the global economic recession.

Tan said landed properties remained the most sought after in the Johor Baru property market but strata-title properties were also gaining popularity, especially among young people.

He said strata-title properties, especially those located nearer to the Johor Baru city centre and the Customs, Immigration and Quarantine complex in Bukit Chagar, were popular because of the close proximity to Singapore.

Tan said the 9,712.45ha Nusajaya area was currently the property hotspot in Iskandar, overtaking the Tebrau area which has established housing schemes.

The completed projects in Nusajaya are the phase one of the Johor State New Administrative Centre, Kota Iskandar Complex and Puteri Harbour, while the ongoing projects include Asia's first Legoland Theme Park, Newcastle University Medical Malaysia, New Coastal Highway and Indoor Theme Park @ Puteri Harbour.

Country View is currently developing the 121.4ha Nusa Sentral project in Nusajaya which will keep the company busy for eight years.

It is also building 12 bungalow units priced between RM3.6mil and RM6.5mil each at Johor Baru's most sought after address Jalan Straits View.

“Demand for properties in Nusajaya is set to rise in the future,'' said Tan.

By The Star