Glomac keen on govt land privatisation

PETALING JAYA: Property developer Glomac Bhd is keen to participate in government land privatisation and aggressively looking for landbanks especially within the Greater KL area.

Group managing director and chief executive officer Datuk F D Iskandar FD Mansor said Glomac would like to participate if they were given a change, adding that the company is already looking at some parcels (of land).

"We are actively looking for landbanks especially in Greater KL area. We have a good position and we sit on a sizeable warcrest of about RM370 million," he told reporters after Glomac's annual general meeting on Wednesday, Sept 28.

Glomac currently has a 400 hectare landbank.

Iskandar said Glomac was also prepared to look at the opportunities (land acquisitions) in the event if the market took a turn for the worse, adding that the opportunities in the property business in Malaysia are still ample.

He said Glomac planned to launch properties worth between RM1.2 billion and RM1.3 billion in gross development value (GDV) for the current financial year ending April 2012.

Among the projects are Glomac Damansara, townships in Rawang, Sungai Buloh and Johor Baharu, Glomac Cyberjaya 2 and Mutiara Damansara Residences.

Glomac sold RM418 million worth of properties in financial year 2011 and achieved some RM100 million worth of sales in the first quarter of financial year 2012.

Iskandar said sales trend could slow down due to external factors like US and Europe financial crises.

However, demand is still there as strong take-up rate was seen in Glomac's properties.

"Not like 97/98 (Asian financial) crisis... even banks were affected. Today, banks are so liquid and in strong position. Is just a confidence factor... people are opting a "wait and see" attitude," he said.

On Glomac's commercial properties, Iskandar said the company was looking at a possibility of en bloc sales, adding that Glomac was finalising some agreements and hope to make an annoucement before year-end.

"There is demand for commercial properties. More multinational corporations are moving out from the central business district to Petaling Jaya, Damansara and Kelana Jaya," he added. — Bernama