PETALING JAYA: Mah Sing Group Bhd is launching RM1bil worth of new properties in the last quarter of the year to boost sales, as the developer reported flat earnings growth in the three months ended Sept 30.

The upcoming new offerings will bring total planned launches for the year to RM2.3bil.

Group managing director Tan Sri Leong Hoy Kum said recently launched units in Cheras registered a strong take-up rate of 85%.

“It has been a very busy period for us,” he said in a statement on Wednesday, adding that recent offered units were almost entirely snapped up.

The company is targeting to achieve total sales of RM1.8bil for the full year after raking up RM1.26bil in the first nine months period.

Mah Sing made net profit RM92.3mil in the third quarter on revenue of RM704.3mil.

Leong said the group’s strong balance sheet as at Sept 30 provided opportunities to pursue more land banking.

“We are on the lookout for more strategic land banks with a focus on developing products below RM500,000 especially in the Klang Valley,” he said.

He said the group was targeting to increase its land banks in the Klang Valley to 75% of its gross development value (GDV) over two years from two-third currently.

“We are looking at land banks with good location that fit into our business strategy,” he said.

The group currently has about 2,131 acres of remaining undeveloped land with GDV and unbilled sales of about RM28.3bil which can support the group’s revenue and earnings growth for the next eight years.

A key theme in the group’s business plan is to ‘reinvent affordability.’

Leong said projects were planned to be affordably priced at strategic locations which were nearby city centre and public infrastructure such as MRT and LRT.

“We are very serious in positioning our brand as Malaysia’s leading developer for affordable homes, which still come with premium features,” he said.

On the outlook for the property market, Leong said that while the industry was currently undergoing consolidation, basic housing demand was still expected to be resilient.

This is driven by the robust economy, which continues to strengthen underpinned by increased government spending on infrastructure and connectivity, strong domestic demand and stable labour market conditions.

Average household median income is set to improve in tandem with GDP growth and the slew of measures and incentives proposed in the recent Budget 2018.

“Historically, the improvement of median income has led to an increase in transaction volume,” the company said.