KUALA LUMPUR (March 31): MIDF Research has upgraded Eastern & Oriental Bhd to “Neutral” (from Sell) with a higher target price of RM2.05 (from RM1.88) and said the launch of Tamarind Tower A (GDV: RM450 million) had received a good take up rate of 80%.

KUALA LUMPUR (March 30): The Employees Provident Fund (EPF) has pared its stake in UEM Sunrise Bhd, thus ceasing to be a substantial shareholder in the property developer.

According to a Bursa Malaysia filing today, the EPF disposed of 2.42 million shares or a 0.05% stake in UEM Sunrise (fundamental: 1.5; valuation: 1.8), leaving it with 226.24 million shares or a 4.98% stake.

KUALA LUMPUR (March 30): AmResearch Sdn Bhd has maintained its “Buy” rating on Sunway Bhd with a higher fair value of RM3.95 (from RM3.60), based on a 20% discount to its upward revised SOP value of RM4.93.

In a note today, the research house said it had incorporated additional investment properties to the SOP, including the recently completed RM340 million Sunway Pinnacle.

KUALA LUMPUR (March 27): Selangor Properties Bhd saw its net profit for the first quarter ended Jan 31, 2015 (1QFY15) drop 62.6% on-year to RM58.08 million, from RM155.26 million, mainly because the previous corresponding quarter recognised profits for the disposal of its stake in Help International Corp Bhd.

KUALA LUMPUR: Eastern & Oriental Bhd (E&O) marked its third collaboration with Japanese property company Mitsui Fudosan Co Ltd by inking an agreement to jointly develop a 5,812 sq m freehold parcel of land at the intersection of Jalan Conlay and Jalan Kia Peng in Kuala Lumpur. The joint venture (JV) is to build luxury high-rise serviced apartments.

FRASERS Hospitality unveiled its third property, the Fraser Residence Kuala Lumpur, claiming it to be the city’s largest serviced residence. After the launch of Capri by Fraser in 2014, and Fraser Place in 2010, Fraser Residence ups the Frasers Centrepoint Group’s portfolio within Kuala Lumpur to 1,000 apartment units.

SINGAPORE: The United States-based Best Western International has collaborated with online accommodation reservations company Agoda Co Pte Ltd (Agoda.com) to create a search engine for its 4,000 hotels worldwide on March 20.

BANGKOK: Office rental rates within Bangkok’s central business district (CBD) and non-central business district (non-CBD) have increased, specifically in the new Grade A buildings within the CBD.

KUALA LUMPUR: The official launch of the first three of 28 BLVD Tower’s four 45-storey towers by Beverly Group’s subsidiary Best Boulevard Sdn Bhd and Mapletree Investments Pte Ltd last weekend saw some 62% take-up rate.

KUALA LUMPUR: Hillcrest Gardens Sdn Bhd goes green in its shop-office development called The Prime@LDP, with half of the units already sold after its soft launch recently. 

The project is said to be the first large-scale Green Building Index (GBI) certified project in Malaysia and is expected to be officially launched next month.