In Depth

Staying ahead during challenging times

THE slowdown in the property market is not news to developers and the public. But some developers have weathered the headwinds by planning carefully and implementing good strategies. For a glimpse of this, we asked the winners (Top 10) of last year’s The Edge Malaysia Top Property Developers Awards for their views at the start of the evaluation of this year’s Top 10 ranking.

Loan growth remains weak at 2.8%

National Property Information Centre primary property market preliminary data also showed that overall units launched and sold in 1H16 plunged to 10,655 units (1H15: 49,280 units) and 2,732 units (1H15: 23,909 units) respectively.

Hunting for bargains in Brexit Britain

Investor confidence and demand shaken by Brexit woes could see UK commercial property values fall by more than 25%, while London home prices could be hit harder with a decline of more than 30%, analysts with Société Générale predict.

Gamuda’s order book increases by 6%

Naim-Gamuda joint venture (JV) (a JV with Naim Engineering Sdn Bhd) was awarded a Pan Borneo highway construction package from Lebuhraya Borneo Utara Sdn Bhd which is the project delivery partner for the highway. The Naim-Gamuda JV is 70% controlled by Naim Engineering Sdn Bhd and 30% by Gamuda Bhd.

Pavilion REIT’s earnings expected to pick up in 2HFY16

Pavilion Real Estate Investment Trust’s (REIT) first half ended June 30, 2016 (1HFY16) realised net profit of RM121 million (+1% year-on-year [y-o-y]) came within our and consensus expectations, accounting for 45% and 46% of forecasts. 

Tide turns against Liberia's biggest slum

The country's biggest township is being swallowed by the sea, tearing the heart out of one of the capital's liveliest neighbourhoods and leaving the government struggling to rehouse thousands of displaced residents.

Project awards yet to translate into orders for SCH Group

SCH Group Bhd registered third quarter of financial year 2016 (3QFY16) net profit of RM700,000, soaring six-fold quarter-on-quarter (q-o-q), but down 66.7% year-on-year (y-o-y). Its nine months of FY16 (9MFY16) results with net earnings of RM2 million, down 72.2% y-o-y, were below our estimates, accounting for 37% of our FY16 forecast.