Angkasa Raya tower to take off next year, UEM Sunrise

PETALING JAYA: UEM Sunrise Bhd, which is targeting RM2 billion sales this year, expects to launch the stalled Angkasa Raya project next year, said its managing director and CEO Anwar Syahrin Abdul Ajib.
"We're nearly there. We're talking with Rakyat Holdings Sdn Bhd at this point in time to find an amicable solution and discussions have been very positive because both parties are interested to see this thing up. Hopefully we can conclude before end of the year and move forward," he told reporters at its AGM yesterday.
He said the project will be launched in mid or end of 2016 and plans for the project remain the same.
"We spent so much money on the design and it's a world-class design with a world-class architect so we'll keep it as what it is," he added.
The old Bangunan Angkasaraya site came into UEM Sunrise's portfolio through its acquisition of Sunrise Bhd. In April 2013, the company said that Rakyat Holdings was taking it to court for allegedly breaching an agreement dated Jan 14, 2008 between Rakyat Holdings and UEM Sunrise's subsidiary Aurora Tower At KLCC Sdn Bhd (previously Tanah Tuah Development Sdn Bhd) for the sale of Angkasaraya.
Rakyat Holdings, a subsidiary of Bank Kerjasama Rakyat Malaysia Bhd, was the original owner of Bangunan Angkasaraya. Sunrise had bought the Aurora Tower KLCC, then deemed to be the owner of Bangunan Angkasaraya, in May 2008 for RM57.4 million in total (inclusive of a RM30.4 million loan) from two companies, Reliance Pillar Sdn Bhd and Lembaran Segimaju Sdn Bhd.
On its RM2 billion sales target this year, Anwar said it expects less contribution from international sales this year compared with last year. Last year, it achieved RM2.4 billion sales, of which RM1.498 billion came from international sales.
"In terms of sales mix, our international sales will not be as much as what we had last year, but it will be quite evenly spread across the southern region, central region and international," he said.
He said the gross development value (GDV) of The Conservatory project in Melbourne is about RM650 million (AU$200.6 million) while the retail and service apartment/hotel portions of the Aurora Melbourne Central project has not been sold yet and could add up to international sales this year.
On its project in Durban, South Africa, the company expects to obtain approvals by the fourth quarter this year. It expects to launch the project in 2017 or 2018. The company has partnered the city council for this project.
"We can't give you the GDV at this point in time because the density of the development has also changed. We have been working hard to get higher plot ratios in the area. In terms of acreage, it is just below 30 acres and located in a very prime location," he said.
In terms of launches this year, it has eight projects with a total GDV of RM3.7 billion in the pipeline.
Anwar said it is confident of achieving higher net profit this year. Last year, its net profit fell 17.1% to RM479.8 million from RM579.1 million the year before.
For its first quarter ended March 31, 2015, net profit fell 13.6% to RM53.1 million from RM61.5 million a year ago while revenue rose 3.9% to RM417.4 million from RM401.5 million a year ago.
Its chairman Tan Sri Dr. Ahmad Tajuddin Ali said it has allocated RM500 million cash per year for land acquisitions, for the next three to four years.
Anwar said it has sufficient headroom for land acquisitions with gearing at 0.37 times and net gearing at 0.22 times.