UEM Group unit lands in Forbes Asia’s list
UEM Group Bhd’s subsidiary, UEM Edgenta Bhd, has earned a spot on Forbes Asia’s 2015 ‘Best Under a Billion’ list, along with 10 other Malaysian companies which also made the cut. The list honours 200 leading public companies in the Asia Pacific region with annual revenue of US$5 million (RM21.3 million) to US$1 billion, have positive net income and publicly traded for at least one year. UEM Edgenta has secured RM4.72 billion worth of local and overseas contracts in 2014 and 2015 while its revenue grew by 7.8% compound annual growth rate from 2010 to 2014. (The Rakyat Post)
Prices will not go down; smaller units will be built
House prices will not decrease; instead, developers will build smaller housing units, said the Penang Real Estate and Housing Developers Association (Rehda). This trend was attributed to developers having to bear high costs for development projects, which in turn are pushed to house buyers. Financial agencies have been urged to relax lending conditions for first-time house buyers, and banks encouraged to give a higher percentage of loan for first-time buyers, to ensure that they have the opportunity to own a house. (Bernama)
WCT bids for RM2bil worth of contracts, plans REIT launch
WCT Holdings Bhd has submitted bids worth RM2 billion, which include additional works at Petronas’ Refinery and Petrochemical Integrated Development (Rapid) project in Johor, and 1MDB’s Tun Razak Exchange (TRX) development in Kuala Lumpur. The company will also be bidding for works related to LRT3, MRT2, the Pan Borneo Highway and Kwasa Damansara Land civil and infrastructure works. WCT had recently won three construction and engineering works with a combined value of RM1.09 billion. The group plans to launch its property real estate investment trust (REIT) in the second half of 2016 with an estimated total asset value of more than RM1.2 billion. The planned REIT will include Bukit Tinggi Shopping Mall in Klang, Paradigm Mall Petaling Jaya, Première Hotel Klang, Paradigm Mall Johor Baru, gateway@KLIA2, The Ascent Paradigm Petaling Jaya, New World Petaling Jaya Hotel, and Paradigm Mall Kuala Lumpur. (The Malaysian Reserve)
The Paradigm Mall brand of shopping malls by WCT will be part of the portfolio under its REIT that will be launched in 2H next year. (Photo from LocatedAt)
Ampang Park mall can avoid demolition with new station design
A new design option for the proposed MRT station may save Ampang Park mall from being demolished as originally planned, if all its owners agree to it, MRT Corp said yesterday. MRT Corp said it had showed the revised design during a meeting this Tuesday with the mall’s management corporation and owners of the mall’s individual strata titles. A mutual agreement needs to be signed with all the owners in order to meet legal requirements for the construction of an MRT railway tunnel and underground passage. This is because landowners in Malaysia own both the rights to the surface and underground land in the same land title. Past MRT station developments have resulted in some landowners giving up their rights to the underground portion while keeping their building intact. (The Malay Mail Online)
MRCB-Quill REIT 3Q earnings jump 76% to RM15.7mil
MRCB-Quill real estate investment trust (MQREIT) reported a 76.1% rise in its 3Q net income to RM15.74 million, mainly due to income contribution from Platinum Sentral. It also gained a 88.8% higher net property income from the divestment of Quill Building 10-Section 13 in Petaling Jaya, which contributed to the improved results. Looking forward, MRCB-Quill expects the Kuala Lumpur office market to remain resilient in the short term, but expects pressure on occupancy rates due to the growing office supply amid a more challenging economic environment. (The Star Online)
Minister: No dress code for public
Datuk Seri Azalina Othman Said has stated that there is no dress code for the public when dealing with government departments and agencies, and that only public officers were subjected to dress code rulings, adding that those dressed “inappropriately” would still be allowed in and served. This was in a written parliamentary reply to another lawmaker’s query about a dress code for the public. There were several cases of overzealous enforcement of dress code at government this year, with women being told to cover their legs with sarongs in order to gain access to government offices, and even Kuala Lumpur International Airport where a man was asked to don long pants instead of shorts. (The Malaysian Insider)
