Plenitude plans seven property projects

Plenitude Bhd plans during the financial year ending June 30 (FY11) to launch seven property projects, which could generate a total gross development value (GDV) of about RM400mil.

These projects were located in Johor, Penang, Kedah and Selangor, executive chairman Elsie Chua said, adding that they would be mixed developments of residential and commercial properties.

“We are upbeat on our future projects in Penang and will be launching our next condominium projects in Tanjung Bungah and Batu Ferringhi,” she said after the company AGM and EGM yesterday.

She said its property development in Balik Pulau would be the company’s first township project in Penang and it would focus on building attractive and affordable houses.

The project is expected to start in two years and is estimated to generate a total GDV of RM230mil.

At end-September, Plenitude told Bursa Malaysia its wholly-owned subsidiary proposed to acquire 20 parcels of freehold land in Balik Pulau totalling about 52.63 acres for RM40.1mil cash.

Chua said Plenitude’s current land bank of about 1,800 acres was expected to last for another 10 years and the company was seriously looking for new land. However, it had no plan to venture into the property market in Sabah and Sarawak at the moment.

Plenitude is also exploring business opportunities in Vietnam, Cambodia and Loas.

Chua said although the company was encouraged by signs of a booming property market locally, it was cautious about the rising prices of land and building materials which would inadvertently raise property prices.

On earnings prospects for FY11, group financial controller Pee See Hoe said the company targeted to grow its top and bottom lines by between 5% and 10% annually.

He added that Plenitude had a dividend payout policy of paying 20% to 25% of its net profit to shareholders annually.

For FY10, Plenitude registered a net profit of RM84.2mil, up 5.5% from RM79.8mil in FY09. Its revenue was RM349.7mil in FY10 compared with RM282.8mil in FY09. - By Lee Kian Seong (The Star)

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