Monday, August 18, 2008

Booming of Setapak Jaya's property?

By Biz Star
Developer plans Plaza Crystalville project

PROPERTY developer Crystalville Sdn Bhd, which already has a number of projects within Sri Hartamas, aims to turn Setapak into a vibrant business hub with the development of Plaza Crystalville @ Setapak.

Comprising four blocks of three-storey shop offices, the development is targeted at business operators rather than conventional purchasers, said chairman Datuk Azman Mahmood. “The principle is to have the Sri Hartamas lifestyle in Setapak. We hope to get buyers who are owner-operators rather than investors because the former will move in and start businesses there and make the area more vibrant,” he told Starbiz.

“There is a tendency for investors to purchase the property but not move in. We want the area to be buzzing with commercial activities to make the place more attractive.” Built on 7.5 acres of leasehold land, Plaza Crystalville @ Setapak will comprise 52 shop office units with a starting price of RM1.4mil each. The development will also have 400 parking bays.

Plaza Crystalville @ Setapak is located at Jalan Genting Klang, intersecting Jalan Langkawi and Jalan Taman Ibukota. It is accessible from the Kuala Lumpur city centre via North-South Expressway and Middle Ring Road 2.

The project has a gross development value (GDV) of about RM100mil. Construction will begin next month and the project is slated for completion by end 2010.

To date, about 54% of the shop offices have been taken up since its launch in June. Azman said he was confident of a full take-up by October. “Thus far, about 97% of purchasers comprise restaurateurs and other business operators. “Although construction costs have gone up 18% and 25% in the past few months, we are not increasing the price of the shop offices,” he said.
Azman added that Setapak was an up and coming location and could be the “next Sri Hartamas”.
“Lots of amenities such as hypermarkets and departmental stores like Parkson and Tesco are coming up in Setapak. There is even a medical centre there. Plaza Crystalville @ Setapak will definitely add value to the area,” he said.

On another note, the company is confident of a full take-up for Phase 4 of its Subang Alam residential development project by year-end. The development, which has a GDV of about RM35mil, comprises 30 units of two-storey semi-dees and five units of two-storey bungalows.
Since having a private launch last month, almost 40% of Phase 4 has already been snapped up. Azman said two of the bungalows had also been booked.

Subang Alam is located in Taman Bunga Raya, which is within the fringe of Subang Jaya/USJ and Shah Alam. It is accessible via all the major highways.

Azman said the majority of purchasers were from the USJ area.

Prices of the semi-detached homes begin at RM960,000 while the prices of the bungalows start from RM1.1mil.

The Subang Alam project is being developed by Subang Alam Sdn Bhd. Crystalville and Subang Alam have common shareholders.

Crystalville specialises in shop office development while Subang Alam’s core business is in residential projects.

Friday, August 08, 2008

Lafarge to pay RM700m in dividends? A worth while stock?

By Biz Times
Higher cash dividends, special cash dividends and capital repayment by the cement producer cannot be ruled out over the next 12 months, say analysts
LAFARGE Malayan Cement Bhd (LMC), the country's largest cement producer, may pay up to RM700 million in special dividends within the next 12 months, analysts say.

"We have not factored any special cash distribution in our model, but do not completely rule out the exercise over the next 12 months," Nik-hadi Nik-mahmood, an equity analyst at Deutsche Bank, wrote in a report this week.

Such a move would be a boon to shareholders as LMC returned some RM125 million through dividend payments in its last financial year, including a 20-sen regular cash dividend paid in May.

The total payout came to about 43 per cent of LMC's net profit of RM287.82 million in 2007, a tad higher than its five-year dividend growth of 31.95 per cent.

UBS Warburg, which has a RM5 price target on LMC, expects the share price to be re-rated once there is further clarity of its capital management initiatives.
These would include higher cash dividends, special cash dividends and capital repayment.
LMC, some 62 per cent owned by the world's biggest cement producer Lafarge SA, is banking on a share placement exercise to raise fresh capital.

As at December 31 2007, LMC had about RM115 million in cash.
If the company does take the capital repayment route, it will be following in the footsteps of several foreign-controlled public-listed companies in Malaysia, such as Telenor ASA with DiGi.Com Bhd and Jardine Cycle & Carriage Ltd with Cycle & Carriage Bintang Bhd.
LMC has until the end of the year to comply with a rule by the Foreign Investment Committee whereby it will carry out a special issue of 161.88 million new shares to selected Bumiputera investors.

Analysts said the exercise could raise as much as RM800 million, with some RM100 million to be used for expansion, leaving the door open for a special dividend payment in the future.
"There is scope for a cash repayment of up to 82 sen a share. The Bumiputera shareholding spread requirement deadline is the catalyst for the exercise. The management plans to maximise dividend payments after meeting its capex (capital expenditure) and working capital requirements," Nik-hadi wrote in his report.

LMC's current dividend yield and price-to-earnings (PER) ratio are also pull factors, Kim Eng Research contends.

"Valuations are very decent and dividend yield is an attractive six per cent. It is trading at a PER ratio of 10 times, which by historical standards is low," Kim Eng's Yew Chee Yoon wrote in a report last week.