UEM Sunrise takes steps to limit exposure to Iskandar

KUALA LUMPUR (May 21): Property developer UEM Sunrise Bhd is taking steps to limit its exposure to Iskandar Johor as the area has been plagued by oversupply of property development projects.

"The oversupply situation in Johor is a reality. We will have to launch responsibly. We would not go all out and oversell properties there," said UEM Sunrise's chief executive officer Anwar Syahrin Abdul Ajib at a press conference after the company's annual general meeting.

Anwar added that the company is prepared to weather the storm by ensuring that it provides the right product offering to property buyers.

Further, UEM Sunrise is looking to acquire land in locations outside of Johor such as the Klang Valley, Sabah and Sarawak to diversify its landbank geographically.

In fact, Anwar expects that property sales for 2015 would spread evenly between launches in the Southern and central regions in Malaysia and overseas projects.

UEM Sunrise is the master developer of Nusajaya in Iskandar Johor and 77% of the company's landbank is located in the Southern state.

However, in the financial year ended Dec 31, 2014 (FY2014), only RM253.7 million out of RM2.4 billion in sales had come from developments in Johor.

The Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) has also warned Singaporeans about the risks of buying properties overseas, singling out Johor as an example.

When asked, Anwar said that there is a "mismatch of opinions" between MAS and actual businesses and buyers as UEM Sunrise is still seeing strong interest from the two groups to purchase in Iskandar, Johor.