KUALA LUMPUR (Nov 23): Titijaya Land Bhd plans to enter the affordable housing segment with a proposed development of RM2.4 billion in gross development value (GDV) in Bukit Raja, Petaling in Selangor in the second quarter of 2017.

Its managing director Tan Sri Lim Soon Peng said in a statement that the move into this largest untapped housing segment was in line with its business transformation.

Titijaya's acquisition of NPO Builders Sdn Bhd, which owns two tracts of land measuring a total of 18.7 hectares in September, would see the land developed into commercial units, serviced apartments and affordable units.

"The affordable units will range between RM300,000 to RM450,000. In this regard, I would like to highlight that almost 90% of our ongoing property projects are priced in the range of RM100,000 to RM599,000, which are not affected by the recent increase in stamp duty for purchases of properties priced above RM1 million," he said.

Lim said the group has sufficient land bank sourced at relatively low cost, making its land cost-to-GDV "attractive".

Titijaya deputy managing director Lim Poh Yit told reporters after the group's annual general meeting that it was also open to collaborating with the government to build affordable homes.

Moving forward, Lim said Titijaya and the Education Ministry would be swapping 1.09-ha land in Bukit Bintang, where the former would build schools.

"This is a model we are using to swap with government agencies. We will look at this model constantly, where in turn, we [will] get land for property development," he said.

In November last year, Titijaya announced plans to swap lands with government land owners, or negotiate for attractive terms via direct acquisitions or joint ventures with landowners.

"We expect this growth strategy to boost the company's future earnings, especially with higher contribution from the affordable housing segment," said Lim.

At 12.30pm today, Titijaya remained unchanged at RM1.73 with 617,300 shares traded, for a market capitalisation of RM697.7 million. — theedgemarkets.com

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