One of S P Setia's upcoming major launches is the Maison Carnegie luxury apartment project, its third property launch in Melbourne.
KUALA LUMPUR: S P Setia Bhd, which achieved sales of RM1.35bil for the first seven months of this year, has revised its sales target for this financial year ended Dec 31 (FY16) to RM3.5bil from RM4bil previously.
“In view of the global uncertainty, especially post-Brexit and the continued weak sentiment in the Malaysian property market, the group sales target for FY16 has been lowered from RM4bil to RM3.5bil,” the property developer said in its interim results report to Bursa Malaysia.
As recent as at the company’s AGM in May, president and CEO Datuk Khor Chap Jen had said RM4bil in sales was still achievable.
In a press statement on Tuesday, Khor said that amid the current challenging market, S P Setia’s sales had performed “satisfactorily”.
He cited the 100% take-up rate of the landed properties with a gross development value (GDV) of RM272mil launched in Setia Eco Templer, Selayang, in May and an encouraging 72% take-up rate of Everna cluster semi-detached homes, Setia EcoHill 2 at Semenyih during the launch in June.
“This indicates that the underlying demand for quality properties in strategic locations with good infrastructure, secure and self-sustained townships is still there,” Khor said.
To keep the momentum going, the group plans several major launches, including Maison Carnegie, Melbourne (with GDV of A$32mil), ViiA Residence at KL Eco City (GDV of RM407mil), Setia Sky Ville at Jelutong, Penang (GDV of RM453mil), Setia Sky Seputeh (Tower A) at Taman Seputeh (with GDV of RM458mil), and Trio by Setia (Tower 1) at Bukit Tinggi, Klang (GDV of RM220mil).
In the first half of 2016, S P Setia earned RM249.17mil on revenue of RM1.92bil. There are no comparable figures last year, when it changed its financial year end from Oct 31 to Dec 31.
The board recommdened an interm dividend of 4 zen per share for FY16.
For the first half-year, the group secured sales of RM1.11bil, mostly from the central region (RM856mil). The southern, northern and eastern region combined contributed RM140mil while the international sales totalled RM109mil.
“On the local front, the sales secured in the Klang Valley are mainly in line with the group’s sales target as compared to a weaker sentiment in Johor, Penang and Sabah. The months leading to the United Kingdom’s referendum on European Union membership had led to a period of ‘wait-and-see’ in the UK’s housing market,” the company said.
S P Setia, which is 51.03% owned by Permodalan Nasional Bhd (PNB) and 14.66% by PNB-managed Amanah Saham Bumiputera, said the group’s prospects going forward remained positive with total unbilled sales of RM8.2bil (anchored by 29 ongoing projects) and effective remaining land bank of 3,805 acres with a GDV of RM71.5bil as of June 30.
“Recognising the challenging environment ahead, the group is cautiously optimistic and remains resilient with its diversified range of new launches, ranging from affordable to upmarket and landed to apartments in the second half period of FY16,” it added.
S P Setia shares closed unchanged at RM3.25 on Tuesday with 1.109 million shares changing hands.
