UEM Land to launch projects with GDV of RM4 billion this year

PETALING JAYA: UEM Land Holdings Bhd expects to launch residential and commercial projects with a total gross development value (GDV) of about RM4 billion this year.

Its managing director/chief executive officer, Datuk Wan Abdullah Wan Ibrahim, said the projects included several major ones in Puteri Harbour,Nusajaya.

He said the company was also looking into launching a high-rise mixed development in Mont' Kiara with a GDV of RM816 million, as well as a mid-market mixed residential development in Bangi.

"We are also going to introduce new phases in our existing projects namely, East Ledang, Nusa Bayu and Nusa Idaman in Nusajaya as well as Symphony Hills and Arcoris Mont' Kiara in the central region.

"These new phases are expected to contribute significantly towards our 2013 sales target of RM3 billion," he told reporters after the company's annual general meeting here today.

UEM Land will be renamed UEM Sunrise Bhd after the company secured its shareholders' approval today. A formal announcement is expected to be made on Friday.

Wan Abdullah said the company was confident on its prospects and fiscal performance as its projects in Nusajaya were currently churning out high earnings yields. He said unbilled sales, which stood at RM3.55 billion as of March 31 this year, were also expected to contribute immensely to the company's financial performance this year.

Besides Nusajaya and the Klang Valley, Wan Abdullah said, UEM Land was currently exploring opportunities geographically, such as in Penang, Kota Kinabalu on the home front and in India, Indonesia and Australia.

The company, which had already ventured into Canada and South Africa through land acquisitions before, was currently studying several key areas in the three respective nations, to make inroads into both property and high-rise structure development, he said.

"Nothing is concrete yet. We are very much aware that to maintain our growth in future, we need to expand geograpically. So, to do it organically, we need to venture into new markets.

"We should have something (project) in Kota Kinabalu by year-end. It is already on the table. Just waiting for the partners to sign," he said. - Bernama