/// West Malaysia Property News
Five Bidders for Pudu Jail Site Project
Mah Sing’s Q3 Earnings Rise
27.85% to RM70.618 Million
Pudu Jail site
Five “big” developers, including one from
Singapore, will submit their proposals for
the redevelopment of the former Pudu Jail
site to UDA Holdings Bhd next Friday.
UDA Holdings group managing director
Ahmad Abu Bakar said the bidders were
earlier given two months to come up with
proposals to develop the project known
as Bukit Bintang City Centre (BBCC), with a
gross development value (GDV) of between
RM6 billion and RM6.5 billion.
He was speaking to reporters after signing
a memorandum of understanding (MoU)
with Bank Muamalat to develop waqf
land in Malaysia. Waqf is an inherent
religious endowment, in the form of assets,
dedicated by a Muslim to benefit others.
To recap, the company held a concept
briefing on Sept 23, after calling for a
request for proposal to develop the BBCC.
It was reported that 24 developers had
attended the briefing.
Ahmad declined to name the bidders. The
site has received tremendous attention not
only due to its strategic location but also
the sentiments of the historical site.
In a previous interview with StarBiz, newlyappointed chairman Datuk Johari Abdul
Ghani said it would collaborate with one or
more parties to develop the site.
He added that UDA Holdings already had a
concept but would welcome input from its
partners to develop the 7.85ha site which
consists of seven blocks of buildings for
commercial and residential, office towers, a
hotel and a shopping complex.
Before this round of tender, China’s
Everbright Construction Ltd was
recommended to be its project partner,
46
www.PropertyHunter.com.my
which was rejected by the Finance
Ministry. Johari said any party with relevant
expertise, track record and background,
including bumiputra developers, could
put in their bids. The project is part of the
Economic Transformation Programme.
Notably, another multi-billion project
within the vicinity is the 118-storey Warisan
Merdeka undertaken by Perbadanan
Nasional Bhd.
Analysts cautioned the possibility of an
oversupply in commercial spaces if the
developments were not well-coordinated.
On the development of waqf land, Ahmad
said the company would join hands
withBank Muamalat to develop 40.47ha
with a GDV in the excess of RM1 billion
across the nation.
It will start off by developing a 2ha mixed
development with a GDV of RM125 million
in Selangor under the MoU and was in talks
to develop WAQF land in Kelantan, Sabah,
Kedah, Perak and Penang.
According to Deputy Finance Minister
Datuk Ahmad Maslan who witnessed the
signing ceremony, there are 11,091.82 ha
of WAQF land worth RM1.177 billion in the
country.
The development of WAQF land in
Malaysia is under the jurisdiction of the
National Endowment Foundation and the
Department of Awqaf, Zakat and Haji.
Mah Sing Group Berhad - Bursa Malaysia
Top Malaysia property
developer and plastic
manufacturer Mah
Sing Group Bhd’s
earnings rose 27.85%
year-on-year to
RM70.618 million, from
RM55.232mil, in the
third quarter of the
financial year ended Dec
31, 2013.
This was achieved on
the back of improved
revenue of RM536.497
million, a 27.47% rise
from the previous year’s
RM420.843 million.
Profit before tax was
RM92.1 million, up
21% from the RM76.1
million previously. Basic
earnings per share
for the quarter was at
5.17 cents, as opposed
to 4.98 cents in Q3 of
2012.
Year-to-date earnings
came in at RM209.9
million on a revenue
of RM1.435 billion, an
improvement of 19.8%
compared to earnings
for the corresponding
three quarters of 2012
of RM175.2 million (on
a revenue of RM1.333
billion).
Earnings per share for
the three quarters of
2013 was at 16.46 cents
versus 15.84 cents
previously.
Mah Sing did not
declare any dividend in
its quarterly report filing
with Bursa Malaysia.
It said sales recorded
up to Sept 30, 2013 was
approximately RM2.25
billion, and it was
confident of achieving
the full year sales target
of RM3 billion.
The company’s plastics
segment continued to
contribute positively
to its revenue and
operating profit.
Revenue grew by
16.1% to RM1