OSK maintains 'buy' call on MMC

OSK Research is maintaining a "Buy" call on MMC Corporation, with an unchanged fair value of RM3.62.

The company based its optimism on expectation that some good news was coming MMC's way following news that Gulf International Investment Group Holdings Sdn Bhd had entered into a joint-venturent with Aluminium Corp of China (CHALCO) for the development of a US$1.6 bil aluminium smelting plant in Sarawak.

MMC Corp Bhd is the flagship company of local tycoon Tan Sri Syed Mokhtar Albukhary.

Syed Mokhtar's companies had previously worked with CHALCO, especially to set up a US$3 billion smelter in Jazan Economic City, Saudi Arabia.

"With MMC having built a relationship with CHALCO in relation to Jazan some four years ago, we continue to see Syed Mokhtar's companies being mutually beneficial," OSK Research said.
As at 3.15 pm, MMC Corp stood at RM2.68, down one sen. - Bernama

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房屋价指数上扬5.9% 首都房价乃大马之冠

（吉隆坡20日讯）2010年大马房屋价格价格指数比2009年上扬5.9%，达到144.1点，同时，所有房屋年均价格也从2009年第4季的18万4574令吉，上涨至2010年第4季的19万9636令吉（8.2%），吉隆坡一带房屋价格仍是大马之冠。

财 政部副部长拿督林祥才今日出席2010年第3季至第4季大马房地产报告推介礼，在会上致词时这么表示，大会同时也推介2010年房地产市场报告、2010 年第4季房产情况报告及2010年第4季房地产库存报告，出席者有产业估价局总监拿督阿都拉塔里及国家产业咨询中心主任再兰博士等等。

林祥才说，2010年大马房屋价格价格指数比2009年的136.1点上扬5.9%，达到144.1点，同时，所有房屋年均价格也从2009年第4季的18万4574令吉，上涨8.2%，2010年第4季数据为19万9636令吉。

其中，国内房屋价格排名最高的事吉隆坡，为43万163令吉，依次是沙巴及雪兰莪，分别是31万5769令吉与30万1443令吉。

“排屋价格年均价格也从2009年第4季度的16万5033令吉，涨至2010年第4季的17万9111令吉，上扬8.5%；吉隆坡排屋年均价格是42万3583令吉，而雪兰莪则是29万9255令吉。”

他表示，在政府多项政策支持下，国内经济稳固使得本地房产在2010年发展良好，创下11.4%最高点，成交量达37万6583宗，总值1亿770万令吉；比2009年的8100万令吉、33万8089宗成交量的记录，多出1亿令吉，成交量总额上升了32.6%。

他说，政府已采取多项措施，预防大马发生如美国及爱尔兰的产业泡沫危机，如在2010年1月1日开始，重新征收5%产业盈利税，避免投机者在5年内转售房屋，影响市场价格浮动，同时让房产领域发展稳健。

他 指出，根据资料显示，首要房屋产业市场买卖率比往年来得低，仅有4万7698间房屋推出市场，卖出的数量为2万1799间（45.7%）；而在售出的房屋 中，价值25万令吉及以下的房屋仍有市场，共卖出55.91%；排屋方面仍受欢迎，在新推出的房产中，已有56.1%售出。

“在2010年房屋兴建计划中，不难看出的是发展商采取小心之上的态度，已建竣、刚开始兴建及房屋新计划分别下降6.5%、2.9%及4.1%，以减少需求和供应之间的不平衡。”

在产业供应方面，已建竣的产业自2009年下降24.1%，刚开始兴建的房产计划则上升近3倍，共有38座建筑大厦一开始在全国各地动工；另外，办公室空间设计比2009年的规划来得小，比2009年的计划小了2万1422平方尺（38%）。

同时，他也表示，因为市场推出不少新办公楼的关系，全国办公室入住率只有84.1%，较往年来得低，吉隆坡的办公室入住率为81.2%、雪兰莪及柔佛同样是76.9%，槟城方面则是78.2%。

他说，办公室空间占用率也仅有18万556平方尺，比2009年的51万9244平方尺还要低，排名依次为马六甲、吉隆坡及霹雳，显示了投资者岁对大马经济环境有信心，却还未开始实行新计划。

至于2010年的商场入住率也从往年的81.5%下降至80.2%，原因很可能是因为市场对刚建竣的商场需求有所下降的关系。

他说，去年共有33座商场建竣，提供5万1106平方尺的空间，而在2010年年底，全国共有1059万平方尺商用空间已经入住。

虽说刚开始兴建以及商场兴建新计划较往年各下滑2.3%及57.6%，但他相信，需求下滑的趋势可在短期内，帮助市场吸纳现有商业空间。

加快产业转换手续流程 提高竞争力

他透露，为方便营商，产业估价局已加快产业转换手续流程，从8个工作天时间缩减至1个工作天，希望借此提高大马房产在国际上的竞争力。

“经过利商工作队与公共领域的努力，大马在世界银行经商环境报告排名，从往年的第23名，升至2010年的第21名，与此同时，在管理发展学院发表的2010年世界竞争力年度报告中，大马也从第18位的排名，升至第10名。”

他认为，随着国家银行在3月宣布维持隔夜官方利率（OPR）在2.75%后，有利于市场融资环境，提升国内房屋买卖成交量。

在 2011年财政预算案中，政府针对有需要人士，拨出5亿6800万令吉发展3项房屋兴建计划，包括城市房屋发展计划（300间）、人民组屋计划（7万 9000户）以及房屋租赁计划（8000间），而其中5000万令吉作为园丘工人房屋贷款，如享有4%最低贷款利息，可借贷长达40年等等，以协助他们可 购买最高售价6万令吉的房屋。

KWONG WAH e news

Double-digit growth for Malaysian property market

KUALA LUMPUR: Malaysia's property market enjoyed double-digit growth in 2010, expanding 11.4% and 32.4% in volume and transaction value respectively.

The Finance Ministry's National Property Information Centre (NAPIC) said on Wednesday, April 20 that Kuala Lumpur,Selangor and Sarawak recorded the highest house prices while overall, the Malaysian All House Price Index rose 8.9 points to 140.7 in 2010.

“Houses priced below RM150,000 represented 57.1% of total residential transactions, with the bulk 17.3% formed by houses priced between RM100,000 to RM150,00,” said the report.

NAPIC said for 2011, it expected the property market to benefit from the various economic initiatives undertaken by the government.

Projects such as the Kuala Lumpur International Financial District (KLIFD), mass rapid transit (MRT) in Greater KL,Warisan Merdeka the development of the Malaysian Rubber Board land in Sungai Buloh and the redevelopment of Pudu prison is expected to have positive spillover effects.

"In the long term,the property sector should benefit from these projects. As new areas open up and communities materialise, these will likely push up demand for housing and other facilities."

"The implementation of infrastructure projects in these regions is expected to spur new growth areas and hence activate the local market" NAPIC said.

Written by Sheikh Al-Zaquan of theedgemalaysia.com

Residential property prices to grow by 10pc

Residential property prices are expected to grow 10 per cent this year given the rebound in transaction volume and higher
replacement costs, AmResearch says.

The research unit of the AmInvestment Bank group said its previous forecast was a growth of five per cent.

It said replacement costs were on the rise due to escalating land cost as well arising prices of building materials from timber, aluminium, cement to steel.

The recent aggressive bids for land surrounding mature neighbourhoods would solidify the strong pricing trends as land traditionally accounted for between 25 and 30 per cent of residential prices, it said in a research report today.

"The expected reacceleration in residential prices would also be preceded by a sustained expansion in transaction volume, which is already underway now," it said.

It said developers had revealed that demand rebounded strongly in the past month as evident from the strong response to recent launches.

"We reaffirm our overweight stance on the property sector with SP Setia and IJM Land as our deep convictions buys," the research house said, raising its fair value for SP Setia from RM7.38 to RM8.10 and IJM Land from RM3.88 to RM4.00 per share. -- Bernama

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Chevron’s US$37b Gorgon project on track, Wah Seong involved in RM551m pipe coating

KUALA LUMPUR: Chevron's giant US$37 billion Gorgon liquefied natural gas(LNG) project is still on track to come online 2014 and in which Wah Seong Corp Bhd is involved in a RM551 million pipe-coating job.

Reuters quoted Chevron gas and midstream president John Gass as saying Gorgon remains on schedule for first gas in 2014.

“We've passed significant CONSTRUCTION [] milestones over the past year," he was quoted saying at an oil and gas conference in Perth.

Gass also said that he expects Chevron to spend A$20 billion (US$20.887 billion) on Australian goods and services during Gorgon's construction.

AmResearch said in a report in February that Wah Seong managed to largely overcome the glitches for the Gorgon job and is currently operating its pipe-coating operations at normal efficiencies.

“This is clearly evident in 4QFY10 results. Hence, we maintain our FY11F earnings, which already incorporate a 63% on-year rebound on faster recognition of the Gorgon pipe-coating job,” it said.

In 2010, Wah Seong was affected by the disruption in the award of major contracts back in 2009 and the delays in implementing the RM551 million Gorgon pipe coating job.

Written by Joseph Chin of theedgemalaysia.com

IOI Corp invests S$114.77m in JV for Singapore property dev

KUALA LUMPUR: IOI Corp Bhd is investing S$114.77 million in a Singapore property company which will develop premium office space, luxury hotel, high-end retail outlets and prestigious city residences along Beach Road in the island republic.

IOI Corp said on Friday, April 8 the land, measuring 376,295 sq ft (8.64 acres), had a leasehold tenure of 99 years.

IOI Corp said the investment would be via its unit, IOI Consolidated (Singapore) Pte Ltd, which had subscribed for a 49% stake in Singapore’s Scottsdale PROPERTIES [] Pte Ltd for cash consideration of S$114.77 million.

Scottsdale owns 66.67% of South Beach Consortium Pte Ltd (SBC), which was incorporated to take part in a design tender for the piece of land along Beach Road under the Singapore Government land sale programme in 2007.

IOI Corp said SBC was successful in the tender and acquired the land for S$1.689 billion. As at Dec 31, 2010, SBC has total assets of S$2.02 billion and net assets of S$681.8 million,” it said.

“The acquisitions present an opportunity for IOI to be involved in an iconic development in Singapore downtown area with a sizeable mix of office, hotel, residential and retail components.

“The substantial size and location of the development which is in close proximity to such landmarks as Suntec City Convention Centre and Raffles Hotel will make this development one of the most popular and prominent mixed-use developments in downtown Singapore,” said IOI Corp.

The other shareholder in Scottsdale is Ascent View Holdings Pte Ltd, a unit of City Developments Ltd, which holds 50.1%.

IOI Corp said IOI Consolidated would advance S$27,730,499 to Scottsdale as a shareholder loan which was in proportion to its shareholding in Scottsdale upon the completion of the subscription.

IOI Consolidated and Ascent View might be required to contribute further equity in proportion to their respective shareholdings in Scottsdale (about S$500 million each) to acquire/redeem existing mezzanine notes earlier issued by SBC, for working capital requirements and to part finance the CONSTRUCTION [] of South Beach.

“The acquisitions will entail a total investment of up to S$816.8 million (equivalent to RM1.96 billion) by IOI Consolidated,” it said.

South Beach is a mixed use development land parcel bounded by Beach Road, Bras Basah Road, Nicoll Highway and Middle Road. IOI Corp said the total land area is 376,295 square feet (8.64 acres) and has a leasehold tenure of 99 years.

The development will comprise of premium office space, luxury hotel, high-end retail outlets and prestigious city residences.

“It is preliminary to ascertain the total development cost or expected profit from the development as SBC is in the progress of refining the design plans and undergoing value-engineering reviews to enhance South Beach’s development efficiency and cost effectiveness,” it said.

Written by Joseph Chin of theedgemalaysia.com

Gamuda Land targets RM1.3b sales in 2011

Gamuda Land Sdn Bhd, a unit of Gamuda Bhd, is targeting sales of RM1.3 billion from domestic and overseas projects for the financial year ending July 31, 2011, surpassing last year's sales of RM800 million.

Managing Director Chow Chee Wah said the projection was based on the bullish property market and the company's current sales which had already hit RM860 million.

"The current financial year should see record sales for Gamuda Land," he told reporters after launching Madge Mansion, a 52-unit luxurious condominium project in Jalan Madge parallel to Jalan Ampang, here today.

Chow said the bulk of the group's revenue would come from the sale of its Bandar Botanic property project in Bukit Tinggi, Klang, while its projects in Vietnam were expected to start contributing to the bottomline beginning next month.

Meanwhile, Madge Mansion expected to be completed by Jan 2014, is an upmarket low-rise condominium which promises low density, privacy and a friendly neighbourhood to discerning buyers and a gross development value of RM320 million to the developer. The smallest unit has a floor space of 3,900 sq ft and is retailing for RM4.95 million while the largest unit, which is more than double, at 8,379 sq ft has a whopping price tag of RM11.33 million. -- Bernama

MRCB expects to land more govt jobs

KUALA LUMPUR: Malaysian Resources Corp Bhd (MRCB) (1651)is expecting more government jobs under the Economic Transformation Programme (ETP), having bid for projects worth over RM2 billion.

Chief executive officer Datuk Mohd Razeek Hussain said one of its key performance indicators for 2011 is to grow the company's revenue by 20 per cent to RM1.3 billion and achieve RM150 million in profit before tax (PBT).

For fiscal 2010, MRCB posted a PBT of RM97.6 million on revenues of RM1.1 billion.

Among the projects MRCB is bidding for are package A and B of the LRT extension project, worth some RM1 billion and RM600 million respectively.

"If we can get one of the two packages, we would have achieved 40 per cent of our target," he said yesterday after the company's shareholders meeting.
MRCB has secured two projects under the ETP - the development of the 6-star St Regis Hotel at Kuala Lumpur Sentral in Brickfields, and the River of Life project.

Razeek said MRCB is negotiating with the government on the scope of works for the project, where it holds the letter of intent with its joint-venture partner, Ekovest Bhd.

The project includes cleaning and beautifying the Klang and Gombak river, and planning some developments along it. He declined to reveal the project cost.

OSK Research estimates the project to be worth RM8 billion to RM10 billion.

Meanwhile, MRCB, which has RM4.2 billion worth of ongoing property projects, plan to launch three new developments valued at RM2.6 billion between May and December this year.

These include an office tower and residences at KL Sentral and a high-end condominium project at Jalan Kia Peng, Kuala Lumpur.

MRCB is also aiming to launch Penang Sentral soon, Razeek said.

"We are looking at substantial growth this year, majority of that will be contributed by our existing projects," he said.

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SP Setia eyes RM300m from villas project

Property developer SP Setia Bhd aims to achieves sales of RM300 million for its luxury Duta Villa project this year, its Bandar Setia Alam, General Manager, Tan Hon Lim said.

The amount is equivalent to 10 per cent of the group gross development value (GDV)of RM3.0 billion, he said.

"We will conduct a more exclusive product preview to attract and convince potential buyers, especially from Petaling Jaya, Damansara, Kuala Lumpur and Shah Alam," he told Bernama in an interview.

Duta Villa comprises 300 units of three-storey villas priced from RM1.62 million as well as three-and-a-half storey villas from RM1.95 million.

The project is located at one of the highest spots in the 1,600 hectare Setia Alam and Setia Eco Park site in Shah Alam and allows residents to enjoy a 360 degree view from the club house.

This gated and guarded strata landed development combines elegant architecture, with a big built area, of a minimum 4,515 sq ft.

Tan regards the project as an investment type product, similar to its development, Duta Tropika in Hartamas several years back, which now has appreciated from RM1.6 million to RM3.5 million.

SP Setia will launch the first phase comprising 123 units of villas by end-April and expects completion by June 2013, he said.

"About 400 people have registered during several private preview sessions and are very keen to purchase the units," he added.

The company is still offering its 5/95 home loan package with a considerably low interest rate.

On new projects, Tan said SP Setia plans to launch cluster homes by May, small office home offices (SOHO) by August as well as medium low and medium cost apartments by October.

He said the launch of the apartment units is in line with the government campaign of a 100 per cent loan for those earning RM3,000 and below for houses priced between RM100,000 and RM220,000, with an up to 30-year repayment.

Meanwhile, Tan said the demand for properties will continue to be strong for years to come, backed by the support from government under the Economy Transformation Plan (ETP).

"There is still a lot of demand in the market, especially for landed properties at good locations.

"A good track record of the developer and development concept, competitive prices and an attractive financing package will help sustain the sales," he added. --Bernama

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