Dijaya aims to raise market cap to RM3bil

PETALING JAYA: To beef up the financial muscles and market presence of mid-cap property company Dijaya Corp Bhd, its group chief executive Tan Sri Danny Tan aims to enlarge the company's market capitalisation to between RM2bil and RM3bil in the next five to six years from about RM900mil now.


Tan says Dijaya has beefed up its management team to oversee the upcoming projects

Tan believes the target is achievable if Dijaya adopts the right land-banking expertise to buy land in the right location and leverages on its strong brand advantage.

To raise fund for new land acquisition, Dijaya is undertaking a private share placement exercise to expand its share base from the current 457 million shares to 594 million shares.

The exercise, which has been approved by the Securities Commission and company shareholders at an EGM recently, is to be completed within a year. Dijaya targets to raise up to RM200mil from this exercise.

Tan said the exercise would also serve to raise the company's share liquidity and promote greater investor interest in the company.

Upon conclusion of the exercise, Tan's 67% stake in Dijaya will be reduced to 51%.

According to Tan, Dijaya is actively looking for opportunities to further expand its land bank in the growth markets of the Klang Valley, Johor and Penang.

In the last five to six months, Dijaya acquired 569 acres in the Klang Valley and Johor to bring its total land bank to 708 acres.

The land will be able to yield a gross development value (GDV) of RM18bil over the next eight to 10 years, and contribute to stronger earnings streams for the company.

Tan said that on an annual basis, Dijaya can look forward to between RM1.2bil and RM1.3bil in new project launches, compared with RM800mil for the current financial year ending Dec 31, 2011 (FY2011).

It is targeting sales of RM500mil for FY2011, RM820mil in FY2012, and RM1.24bil in FY2013. As at September 2011, the company has unbilled sales of RM472mil.

To oversee the upcoming projects, Tan said Dijaya had beefed up its management team. Three executive directors have been appointed to take care of the northern, central and southern regions of Peninsular Malaysia.

“We now have a strong team backed by years of experience in each of their field of expertise. In terms of project planning, we also have to be far-sighted and innovative to continue to excite our property buyers in different locations.

“This will greatly strengthen our performance and lead the company to new heights,” Tan told StarBiz.

He said another of Dijaya's advantage is the Tropicana brand which is already at least 18 to 20 years in the market, with two signature projects to its name the 625-acre Tropicana Golf & Country Resort and 409-acre Tropicana Indah Resort.

Tan said Dijaya would launch RM800mil worth of new projects this year, RM1bil next year and RM1.3bil in 2013.

The first to be rolled out around mid-November will be Tropicana Avenue in Tropicana Golf and Country Resort comprising two floors of retail podium with offices and soho units above the podium block. The RM412mil project is targeted for completion in 2013.

The integrated commercial development of Tropicana Danga Bay on 37 acres will be unveiled in Iskandar Malaysia, Johor in December. The RM3.8bil development will comprise service apartments, hotel, office tower, shopping mall, and retail cum office lots. It will take over 12 years to complete.

Early next year, the 26-acre Tropicana Cheras comprising terrace and semi-detached houses and bungalows worth RM185mil will be launched.

The 227-acre Tropicana Danga Cove in Johor with GDV of RM2.8bil will be unveiled in the first half of 2012.

Two other project launches are also slated for next June. The first will be the 88.5-acre Tropicana Hills in Subang with upper medium range of mixed residential and commercial development. The RM3.5bil project will take eight to 10 years.

Tropicana Bayou, a gated and guarded residential project on 66 acres in Balakong with GDV of RM400mil, is scheduled for launch next June.

Following which will be the Tropicana Gardens commercial centre on 14 acres opposite Giza Sunway in Kota Damansara. The lake-fronting project with GDV of RM1.8bil will feature service apartments, soho units, offices, a hotel and lifestyle retail space. It will take over eight years.

By The Star

Glomac eyes land in Greater KL for integrated mixed projects

PETALING JAYA: Armed with a net cash position of RM361.6mil as at July 31, 2011, Glomac Bhd is on the lookout to buy small land parcels with fast turnaround and high gross development value potential in the Greater Kuala Lumpur area.

Group managing director and chief executive officer Datuk Fateh Iskandar Mohamed Mansor said negotiations were under way for some suitable sites to be developed into integrated mixed projects.


Iskandar: ‘This strategy will contribute to a solid balance sheet.’

He said there were some “under-rated” sites where Glomac could use its expertise to enhance the land value through innovative infrastructure, branding, marketing and design.

“At the same time, this strategy will contribute to a solid balance sheet while keeping down the company's debt position,” he noted.

Glomac is also keen to participate in government land privatisation and is looking at some of the projects.

Based on a consistent growth in profit over the past three years, the company is confident of posting a double-digit growth in its earnings for its financial year ending April 30, 2012 (FY2012).

Glomac recorded a profit after tax of RM32mil for FY2009; RM41mil for FY2010; and RM63mil for FY2011.

“For FY2012, Glomac is looking to launch up to RM1.2bil in new projects comprising affordable housing units, medium to medium upper range of properties and commercial projects.

The developments slated for launch this year include projects in Glomac Damansara (RM250mil), Mutiara Damansara Residences (RM250mil), Glomac Utama Phase 1 (RM250mil), Glomac Cyberjaya 2 (RM100mil) and townships in Rawang, Sungai Buloh and Johor (worth a combined RM295mil).

“Having achieved RM100mil in sales for the first quarter ended July 31, Glomac is on track to achieve its sales target of RM500mil for FY2012,” he added.

The company raked in sales of RM418mil in FY11. As at July 31, it has unbilled sales of RM550mil.

Iskandar said Glomac's landbank of close to 404.68ha had an estimated GDV of RM3.8bil. The landbank will keep it busy for the next six to seven years, and he expects Glomac to undertake projects worth some RM600mil a year.

Glomac assistant general manager, group corporate communication and corporate marketing, Fara Eliza FD Mansor said the company would be unveiling its latest property projects at The Star Property Fair 2011 to be held from Nov 25 to 27 at the Kuala Lumpur Convention Centre.

The projects to be exhibited include Glomac Damansara, the company's flagship mixed development on 2.75ha fronting Jalan Damansara.

Fara said the project with a GDV of RM898mil, offered a hybrid mix of business and leisure property.

“Glomac Damansara Residences comprise two blocks of service apartments. The 356 apartments with built up of 876 sq ft to 2, 529 sq ft are priced from RM581,660, or around RM650 per sq ft. So far, 75% of the units have been sold,” she added.

Also sold are the five and eight-storey shop offices (GDV of RM54mil), and the 25-storey corporate tower office suites (GDV of RM171mil) which was sold en-bloc last year.

Glomac Damansara will also have a 16-storey office block and a boutique retail mall (with a total GDV of RM388mil) that will be launched later.

Fara added that the other projects to be showcased at the property fair will be Glomac Utama's double-storey shop offices and service apartments; Mutiara Damansara Residences, consisting of 299 units of 1,200 sq ft to 1,600 sq ft of freehold service apartment project; Sinaran@Suria Residen a gated and guarded development in Cheras and three to 41/2-storey shop offices at the RM250mil Glomac Cyberjaya 2 project.

By The Star

Kosmopolito to expand in Malaysia

Hong Kong's Kosmopolito Hotels International is optimistic of Malaysia and growth in the three- and four-star hotel category

Kuala Lumpur: Hong Kong's Kosmopolito Hotels International Ltd (KHI) aims to expand its hotel portfolio in Malaysia, either by building properties from scratch or taking over abandoned buildings.

President Winnie Chiu Wing Kwan said the company may also buy hotels that are not performing well, and turn around the properties by strategising on its key brands.

"We like distress properties and are interested in three- and four-star hotels. We believe in turning around. Our group also has the experience to convert industrial and office buildings into hotels, so there are a lot out there for us.

"We are optimistic of Malaysia and growth in the three- and four-star hotel category. Budget airlines like AirAsia and FireFly have revolutionised this place and contri-buted to industry growth," Chiu told Business Times in an interview recently.

Currently, KHI has five hotels in Malaysia - Dorsett Regency Hotel Kuala Lumpur, Grand Dorsett Subang, Grand Dorsett Labuan, Dorsett Johor and Maytower Hotel and Serviced Residences - all opera-ting in the three- and four-star ca-tegories.

Chiu said the company is looking to set up more hotels in the Klang Valley and Sabah.

KHI is also interested in management contracts to boost income, she said.

By the third quarter of next year and in 2013, the company expects to manage two new hotels under Malaysia Land Properties Sdn Bhd (Mayland) in Cheras and at Plaza Damas 3 in Sri Hartamas, Kuala Lumpur.

In Cheras, Mayland had acquired Phoenix Plaza, now called Cheras Central Shopping Mall, in 2009 for some RM80 million.

Mayland is re-modelling the complex for more than RM120 million and the new set-up will include a shopping mall and a four-star hotel, which will operate under the Dorsett Regency brand.

At Plaza Damas 3, MayLand is also building a four-star hotel, which will carry the same brand name.

By Business Times

Developer says no more work being done as contruction completed

Easy to get lost: Poor signage at Solaris Dutamas has become a bane for both tenants and visitors.

Claims made by the tenants and owners of commercial units in Solaris Dutamas Kuala Lumpur about their problems with the joint management of the retail and office has been refuted by the developer and management of the development.

The developer and management of Solaris Dutamas, Sunrise Bhd community and customer development general manager Anne Tong denied that there was still construction works and flying debris as claimed by the stakeholders.

“It is impossible that at this stage there is still construction works and debris as the development is already completed.

“Whatever works done in the development at the moment are the renovation works within Publika, which is the shopping mall within the Solaris Dutamas development.

“Some of the works are by the individual retail outlets done by the tenants or shop owners themselves,” she said during an interview which was also attended by Segambut MP Lim Lip Eng, in respond to the claims made by the stakeholders.

However, Tong admitted that there were problems with the signage in the development which was also one of the problems cited by the stakeholders.

“We understand that the signage here can be a bit difficult. However, we have engaged a consultant from Singapore to work on upgrading the ‘wayfinding’ signage for the development. As this is an ongoing exercise, changes will be gradual,” she said.

Tong added with regards to the high parking rates and claims, that the revised rates would not encourage more customers and they would resort to other malls claimed by the stakeholders were incorrect.

“The revised parking rate is fixed at RM1 for the first three hours and RM2 per hour for the subsequent hours not RM1 for the first hour.

“We believe this price is reasonable as it is comparable to other shopping malls in the Klang Valley and it is relatively cheaper than several shopping complexes nearby,” she said adding that the parking rate is maintained at RM1 per entry during the weekends to attract and encourage more shoppers.

When asked about the claims by stakeholders that their units are not given proper publicity, Tong said they could not allow the business operators to hang their own buntings and banners along the corridors and the car park as it would affect the outlook of the development.

“Just like any other shopping areas, we cannot let them place their buntings and banners as the outlook and appearance will be affected.

“We have to maintain and control this,” she said adding that they have also given publicity for many of the outlets in Solaris Dutamas by featuring them in the Sunrise news bulletin without charging them.

Some 200 tenants and owners from Block C and D signed a petition recently to the management of the development and organised a press conference with Segambut MP Lim Lip Eng to highlight the issue.

Most of them said there are several things that have hampered their business in the area with one of the most pertinent problem was the delay in the completion of Publika shopping mall and the commercial units claiming there was debris flying around that was affecting their business.

The tenants and owners claimed that the construction was still going on although the works at Solaris Dutamas should have been completed two years ago.

They are also unhappy that their units are not given proper publicity and are treated as a separate entity from Publika that has received numerous advertisements and articles in the local media.

Deciding to take matters into their own hands, the business operators printed their own buntings and banners along the corridors and the car park. However, they were told they could not do that and the security guards had gone around collecting the banners and placing them in the carpark to be picked up by respective owners.

By The Star