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UEM Land sets 40% profit growth target
29 February 2012, By The Sun
UEM Land Holdings Bhd, the country's biggest property developer by market value, said net profit for the last quarter ended Dec 31, 2011 rose 3.8% to RM140.56 million and boosted full-year earnings by 55% to RM301.7 million.
The FY11 results came in much higher than consensus forecast of RM230 million, but UEM Land said the 8% return on equity (ROE) for the year was short of its own 10% target made a year ago.
The 55% growth in revenue to RM1.7 billion, however, was ahead of its key performance indicator (KPI) target.
"The group will improve on the current year's performance,'' UEM Land told Bursa Malaysia yesterday.
It has set a new benchmark for this year.
Record performance from Mah Sing in 2011
29 February 2012, By The Star
Property developer Mah Sing Group Bhd wrapped up its financial year 2011 (FY2011) with new record highs for revenue, profit and sales, after posting a strong set of results in its fourth quarter (Q4) ended Dec 31 2011.
Its Q411 net profit rose 30.9% to RM41.03mil versus a year earlier, while its revenue surged to RM422.13mil from RM299.28mil. Earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter in review stood at 4.93 sen against 3.77 sen previously.
For the full year, Mah Sing saw its net profit surge to RM168.56mil on revenue of RM1.57bil from a net profit of RM118.07mil on revenue of RM1.11bil in FY2010.
EPS for FY2011 rose to 20.27 sen from 14.2 sen per share.
City centre to get facelift
29 February 2012, By The Star
The Iskandar Regional Development Authority (Irda) will ensure minimal disruptions and inconvenience to the people when the Johor Baru city centre transformation plan kicks off this year.
Chief executive officer Ismail Ibrahim said the RM1.8bil project was expected to start by the middle of the year or by the end of the year and would take between five to seven years to be completed.
“The main objective of the project is to transform Johor Baru city centre into a vibrant place for working, living and doing business,” he said in an interview with StarMetro.
Ismail said ‘vibrant’ indicated activities that would generate an influx of people into the city centre, throughout the day.
Legoland Malaysia calls media, digital pitches
29 February 2012, By Campaignsingapore.sg
Legoland Malaysia, the first Legoland theme park in Asia Pacific, has called its first media and digital pitches, in time for the park's opening at the end of this year.
Its director of sales and marketing Thila Munusamy told Campaign that the brief for both pitches was sent out about a month ago, and the process is at the shortlisting stage.
“The advertising campaign will be launched nearer to the opening date. Our main media usage is TVC, but we will go for outdoor advertising first,” she said. She added that all pitches will be concluded within a month.
It had earlier called a creative pitch, which is now at its final stage. Legoland Malaysia is also finalising its pitch for search agencies to collect quarterly data in Malaysia and Singapore.
40,000 tenaga mahir diperlukan bagi sektor minyak, gas
28 February 2012, By Utusan Malaysia
Sektor minyak dan gas di negara ini akan memerlukan lebih 40,000 tenaga kerja mahir menjelang 2015, kata Menteri Sumber Manusia, Datuk Seri Dr S. Subramaniam.
Ia merupakan hasil kajian pihak majikan industri itu mengenai keperluan tenaga kerja mahir menjelang 2015, katanya kepada pemberita selepas sesi dialog kementeriannya bersama pihak majikan pelbagai sektor di sini, hari ini.
Menurut beliau, pihak majikan mahu agar lebih banyak program latihan diadakan berkaitan industri tersebut agar dapat menyediakan tenaga kerja mahir yang mencukupi.
Subramaniam berkata, bidang elektronik dan perhotelan juga memerlukan tenaga kerja mahir yang ramai.
IGB planning hotel REIT
28 February 2012, By The Star
IGB Corp Bhd is said to be mulling over a hotel real estate investment trust (REIT) to unlock the value of its hospitality assets in the country and overseas.
Industry observers said the hotel REIT was likely to come about after the property group's 75%-owned unit, KrisAssets Holdings Bhd, had successfully injected its two retail assets in Mid Valley City - the Mid Valley Megamall and The Gardens shopping mall into a retail real estate investment trust later this year.
The two retail assets have an estimated total asset value of close to RM4bil and the retail REIT is expected to be materialised within this year.
Zeti: GDP set to grow 5% driven by domestic demand
28 February 2012, By The Star
Despite the gloomy projections, Bank Negara is confident that the economy will notch a decent 5% growth this year.
“We can say with a high degree of confidence that domestic demand is on a solid and steady growth,'' said governor Tan Sri Dr Zeti Akhtar Aziz in an interview over BFM radio yesterday, pointing out that consumption demand and private investment activity were growing in excess of 6%.
In fact, domestic demand has been the main driver of growth for the past two to three years.
No doubt, the country's exports will be affected by the slowing demand in the United States, Europe and other parts of the world.
Danga gets 14 enquiries from local and foreign investors
27 February 2012, By The Star
DANGA Bay had seen a flurry of investors coming to its place last week, some serious, some just wanted information as to what is available and at what prices.
That has become a daily thing at Danga Bay since the end of last year and the visitors came from far and near. Some from within the country, some from Singapore and some as far as China.
They are companies and high net worth individuals who are looking for land and properties in Johor, especially at the southern tip of Johore Baru city which fronts Singapore.
Foreigners May Turn To Iskandar Malaysia Following Singapore's ABSD Rulling
27 February 2012, By Bernama
There is a potential for more expatriates to buy properties in Iskandar Malaysia following Singapore's announcement of a 10 per cent Additional Buyer's Stamp Duty (ABSD) late last year for certain categories of residential property purchases in the republic.
Asked to comment on the matter, Johor Menteri Besar Datuk Abdul Ghani Othman said it would mean "more reasons for people to come here then".
He said the ABSD would be good source of revenue for Singapore but felt the rate was high for foreign property buyers.
Abdul Ghani was met after he officially launched Southkey development project by Selia Pantai Sdn Bhd, a public-private smart partnership between the Selia Group and Johor state government owned Kumpulan Prasana Rakyat Johor Sdn Bhd, here, Saturday.
Boutique residence in heart of JB
24 February 2012, By The Star
Mudra Tropika Sdn Bhd is involved in a niche RM30 million project to turn an undeveloped enclave into an ultra-exclusive boutique residential property
In the 1990s, "boutique residence" was an unfamiliar concept for Johoreans. It would have been high ly unusual for a residential property to be put up for sale for more than RM1 million.
However with time, and an appreciation for lifestyle living, several developers have managed to introduce and offer niche residential property to the Johor Baru market.
Of late, there has been a growing demand for it as the people of south Johor have become more aware of the benefits of owning high-end property.
More developers are offering international lots to cater to Singaporeans and other foreigners.
