MUI puts Penang retail asset up for sale: Report

KUALA LUMPUR (Nov 9): Malayan United Industries Bhd (MUI) is putting a retail asset on Penang island up for sale, reported The Edge Malaysia.

The report also revealed that the retail asset is located in Kompleks Bukit Jambul. The weekly “sighted” an advertisement stating that “a high-yield retail space in Bukit Jambul, currently occupied by a hypermarket operator, is available for sale”.

The advertisement also stated that 145,843 sq ft of space on the basement and ground floor of Kompleks Bukit Jambul are up for sale.

An online search conducted by the business publication revealed that “the asset is tenanted by Mydin Hypermarket and belongs to MUI”.

MUI’s annual report for the financial year ended June 30, 2019 (FY2019) also “confirms” that the asset belongs to MUI and that it is located in Jalan Rumbai.

A valuer who spoke to The Edge “reckons that the asset could fetch as much as RM50 million or RM342 psf”, and “if the 5% yield is nett, this makes for a decent deal in the current market”.

Another source said the asset “cannot go for lower than RM20 million.”

Records show that the 22-year-old property was purchased by MUI in August 2007. In 1997, Metrojaya set up a hypermarket called Cosmart Bukit Jambul there. It also had a Reject Shop at the complex.

The report also stated that “the net book value (NBV) as at FY2019 was RM19.09 million, down from RM19.78 million a year ago”.

Overseas, MUI placed its Corus Hotel Hyde Park in London up for sale a few months ago. The group has appointed international investment bank NM Rothschild & Sons Ltd to seek a buyer for the 388-room hotel located in Lancaster Gate.

The hotel is being sold for more than £200 million (RM1.05 billion).

It was also reported that MUI disposed of three lots of leasehold land with a four-storey shoplot each in Kuala Lumpur for a RM3.4 million profit and two warehouses in Selangor for a RM16.4 million profit.