Mah Sing to launch RM2.5bil projects

Tan Sri Leong Hoy Kum with a model of Icon Residence@Mont’Kiara

PETALING JAYA: Mah Sing Group Bhd will launch RM2.5bil to RM3bil worth of projects in the Klang Valley, Penang and Johor this year to meet its sales target of RM2bil for the current financial year ending Dec 31.

Group managing director and chief executive Tan Sri Leong Hoy Kum said the projects would comprise an array of commercial, residential and industrial properties.

The two commercial projects are Icon City Petaling Jaya and Star Avenue@D'Sara, while the industrial project is iParc 3@Bukit Jelutong.

Residential projects lined up for launch in the Klang Valley include Hijauan Residence in Cheras, Kinrara Residence, Aman Perdana, Bayu Sekamat, M Suites@Jln Ampang, M City@Jln Ampang and Garden Plaza in Cyberjaya.

There are also three residential projects to be launched in Penang Legenda@Southbay, Icon Residence and Ferringhi Residence. The project in Johor Baru is Sierra Perdana.

Leong said Mah Sing's RM2bil sales target for this year was higher than the record sales of RM1.5bil achieved last year.

As at April 11, the developer recorded sales of RM738mil, which was about 37% of its sales target for this year. Mah Sing also has unbilled sales of RM1.3bil as at Dec 31, 2010 that will be realised over the next two to three years.

For the financial year ended Dec 31, 2010 (FY10), Mah Sing achieved profit after tax and minority interest of RM118mil, a 25.5% increase over RM94mil in 2009. Group revenue for FY10 was also higher at RM1.1bil against RM702mil previously.

Leong said Mah Sing would aggressively expand its land bank and was now looking for suitable prime land in greater Kuala Lumpur, Penang island and Johor Bahru.

Last year, the group undertook 10 land acquisition exercises. This year, it has so far signed one deal.

“These are prime land which can yield remaining gross development value (GDV) and unbilled sales of about RM14.1bil. It should keep the group busy for the next seven years,” he added.

Leong said Mah Sing aimed to buy land that could provide GDV of RM7bil to RM12bil this year. He said the group had the resources to fund the acquisitions.

Besides making outright land purchase, the group is also open to joint ventures with land owners.

“We are scouting for land near the proposed MRT stations, as the new transport infrastructure would create higher value for these land,” he added.

Mah Sing's upcoming projects that are located near the proposed MRT stations along the Sungai Buloh-Kajang line include Star Avenue@D'Sara (near Taman Industri Sungai Buloh station) and One Legenda and Hijauan Residence (near Taman Suntex station).

Projects along the proposed circle line include M Suites (near Great Eastern mall stop), M City (near Ampang point station) and Icon Residence Mont Kiara (near Matrade stop).

Star Avenue@D'Sara, the first night-guarded concept shop-office development, is one of the first new commercial projects coming up along Jalan Sungai Buloh. The RM402mil project comprises 3-storey shop offices and retail lots.

The RM980mil Kinrara Residence is a medium-high-end residential project on about 139 acres in Puchong. It comprises superlink residences, semi-detached units and bungalows.

M-City@Jalan Ampang will feature residential suites, designer small-office home-office (soho), sky villas and boutique retail units on five acres of freehold land.

The RM1.2bil project is targeted for preview in the second half of this year. Its first-phase preview will be designer soho and 3-storey boutique retail shops.

Icon Residence Mont' Kiara will feature 260 partially-furnished residences with a GDV of RM408mil. The development will offer about 200 different unit layouts in three iconic towers of 26, 28 and 36 storeys.

Dubbed garden terraces in the sky, the residences will have price tags from RM1.148mil.

By The Star

Bolton suffers drop in profit to RM20.3m

Bolton Bhd's pre-tax profit for the financial year ended March 31, 2011 fell to RM20.34 million from RM50.7 million the previous year while revenue fell to RM243.23 million from RM257.47 million.

For the fourth quarter period ended March 31, its pre-tax profit dropped to RM4.84 million from RM16.66 million in the same period last year.

Revenue increased to RM87.51 million from RM74.17 million previously, the company said in a filing to Bursa Malaysia today.

It attributed the lower profit to mainly to the current work in progress for the new launches with all being at their initial stages.

Its new property launches are Arata (100 units of high end condominiums) located at Bukit Tunku, another 215 units of service apartments at Jalan Ceylon and the Wharf (a mixed commercial and residential development) located at Taman Tasik Prima, Puchong.

By Bernama

BDB to build condos in Alor Setar

Bina Darulaman Bhd (BDB) together with Belleview Bina Sdn Bhd (Belleview) will be developing a condominium here in the near future.

Work on the two-block unit named Kondominium Amansuri Residences, estimated at a cost of RM110 million, is expected to start in November with completion due in 2014.

Chairman of BDB Datuk Mohd Saad Endut said the proposal to build the condominium came about with plans to redevelop the existing Kompleks Tunku Yaacob and build an international standard hotel on a piece of land owned by the Kedah State Development Corporation (PKNK) and left idle the past 16 years.

He said the condominium will be built on a 1.469 hectare piece of land.

All the three projects will be built along the same row, he said during his speech at the signing of an agreement here today between BDB and Belleview for the joint development.

"The condominium will comprise two blocks of 22-storey and 25-storey respectively and will house a total of 227 residential units including six units of penthouse," Mohd Saad said.

Among the buildings' features would be car parks, swimming pool,
multipurpose hall, a pavilion, gymnasium and other facilities on par with the best condominiums around the country.

The condominium will also be gated and have tight security, he added.

With BDB's success record in Kedah and the achievements of Belleview in Georgetown, Mohd Saad said he was confident that the project would be a huge success.

"It would change the skyline of Alor Setar city besides increasing the state's coffer through tax collection and so on," he said.

Mohd Saad said that although the sales price has not been fixed for the condominium, he was confident that the price would be lower compared with prices in Kuala Lumpur and Georgetown.

Kedah Sato Sdn Bhd, a wholly owned subsidiary of BDB will be undertaking the construction of the condominium.

Meanwhile, Menteri Besar Datuk Seri Azizan Abdul Razak said the process of taking over the site of Kompleks Tunku Yaacob was going on and the request for the takeover of the building had already been sent to the state government.

"We expect that only in August we will be calling the involved family for the provision of compensation and we have not decided on the form of compensation that would be given," he said.

He also added the project had been delayed due to several unavoidable problems.

By Bernama

YNH Property enjoys higher Q1 pre-tax profit

YNH Property Bhd achieved a higher pre-tax profit of RM21.43 million for the first quarter ended March 31, 2011, compared with RM20.55 million registered in the previous corresponding quarter.

However, revenue declined to RM55.26 million, from RM93.80 million, registered previously.

In a filing to Bursa Malaysia today, the group said its performance was mainly derived from the recognition of progressive sales of its inventories, development properties and commercial properties.

It said the global economic climate remained challenging after almost three years from the 2008 financial crisis.

"Notwithstanding the challenging environment, the group had been achieving strong demand for its projects such as Manjung Point Seksyen 5, Taman Seri Melor, Taman Sejati III and Taman Pantai Remis in Seri Manjung as well as the balance units in Ceriaan Kiara in Month Kiara," it said.

The company expects sales from both the township projects in Manjung and Klang Valley to continue its contribution to the group's income.

By Bernama

iProperty launches GPS-based Android app

iProperty.com Malaysia, the country’s number one online property portal, recently launched Southeast Asia's first Android app for property search.

The new product was designed to give users real-time access to over 255,000 properties for sale and rent, iProperty.com Malaysia Sdn Bhd said in a statement today.

It said the launch followed the its very successful unveiling of its iPhone and iPad real estate search apps last year.

"Since its debut, these apps have seen tens of thousands of downloads and have been ranked number one in the Lifestyle Category in the iTunes App Store," it added.

A highlight of the Android app is its Global Positioning System
(GPS)-supported feature, enabling users to view in real time properties on the market near their current location via Google Maps.

By Bernama