Thriven Global believes this year will be better

KUALA LUMPUR: Thriven Global Bhd, which suffered a net loss of RM16.59 million last financial year ended Dec 31, 2016 (FY16), is confident of a better performance this year based on its planned projects and stable market conditions.
“We should be able to achieve better sales this year than last year’s RM200 million. The market has stabilised and conditions are better this year. Our projects are in good locations and we are pushing out these projects,” said its group CFO Augustone Cheong Kwok Fai.
“We are quite confident as we have seen interest and good response at our sales gallery. We have also strengthened our sales force,” he told SunBiz at its AGM and EGM yesterday.
Cheong said the group’s flagship project Lumi Tropicana in Petaling Jaya and eNESTa Kepong will drive its growth this year while its unbilled sales of RM171.33 million (as at end-2016) will be recognised progressively between 2017 and 2019.
He said last year’s net loss was mainly due to impairment made for its Bukit Tunku land sale, which was sold at a loss. The group decided to scrap plans to develop high-end bungalows on the land due to tough market conditions and sold the land.
Despite selling the land at a loss, the group will receive RM21 million cash once the transaction is completed within the next two to three months. He said the group is not planning any land sale this year.
Cheong said revenue recognition was slow last year due to some of its projects being at the initial stage, for example its Kepong project which was only granted the development order this year.
“We have started piling works and we can start recognising revenue and capitalising the expenses now,” he said.
This year, the group will launch the third tower at Lumi Tropicana. The third tower, which is part of Phase 2, will be launched next month. The entire project has a gross development value (GDV) of RM947 million and is expected to be completed by 2020.
It will also launch the RM254 million Kepong project this year. The project comprises 254 units of affordable housing named Residensi ENESTA Kepong (RumahWIP) and 258 units of serviced apartments together with 23 units of retail lots named eNESTa Kepong.
The group has also planned launches in its ongoing projects in Taman Bukit Panchor, Penang and Taman Desa Aman, Kedah. In Behrang, Perak, the group will launch affordable homes in the second half of this year. The project is a joint venture with Perak State Secretary Incorporated and has a GDV of RM99 million.
Next year, it plans to launch the RM317 million Lumi Section 13 as well as the final tower at Lumi Tropicana.
Cheong said the group has 166.5 acres of land and although it is not aggressively seeking land for acquisition, it is open to opportunities, including joint ventures with land owners.
On whether it has plans to expand overseas, he said it is the group’s long-term plan to be a regional player but at the moment, the group’s focus is on its domestic projects.