News by M

Chinese appetite for hotel real estate remains even though Beijing has announced tighter measures on outbound capital in mid-December for “non-core” business activities.

Wong Engineering said it will leverage, among others, on major shareholder and managing director Yong Loy Huat’s expertise and experience to tender for construction and property development projects, as well as supply construction materials for these projects.

Year on year, 1QFY2017 core net profit increased by 83.3% to RM341.1 million, boosted mainly by higher plantation earnings (which in turn were driven by higher palm product prices) and better performance at the property and farming divisions.

Value hunters are spoilt for choice when it comes to house-hunting in the prime residential districts. A total of 42 transactions in the S$900,000-to-S$1.1 million range were recorded in prime Districts 1, 2, 9, 10 and 11 from October 2016 to January to date. These transactions were mainly for units of 420 to 861 sq ft.

Al Salam Real Estate Investment Trust (REIT) saw its net property income (NPI) jump 33% to RM16.46 million in the fourth quarter ended Dec 31, 2016 (4QFY16), from RM12.28 million in the previous corresponding quarter, supported by a bigger portfolio of properties.

CDL China, a wholly-owned subsidiary of City Developments Limited (CDL), is acquiring a prime Shanghai commercial project, Meidao Business Plaza for RMB 900 million (S$186 million) through the purchase of a 100% equity stake in Shanghai Meidao Investment Co.

The RM368 million Kangar City Centre (KCC) project, which is scheduled to begin construction in the next three to five months, will become a new landmark for the state capital, said Perlis Menteri Besar Datuk Seri Azlan Man.

Kuala Lumpur Kepong Bhd’s (KLK) net profit declined sharply in its first financial quarter ended Dec 31, 2016 (1QFY17), mainly due to the absence of a one-off gain of RM485.7 million on disposal of plantation land in 1QFY16.

2016 saw two sizeable job wins which lifted Hock Seng Lee Bhd’s (HSL) outstanding order book to a record RM2.2 billion. Physical construction has, however, been slow, and is expected to progress meaningfully only in 2017.

Sunway Real Estate Investment Trust’s (REIT) distribution per unit (DPU) for the second quarter ended Dec 31, 2016 (2QFY17) fell 11.3% to 2.28 sen from 2.57 sen a year ago, on the cessation of manager’s fee payable in units, effective FY17.