Friday 29 Mar 2024
By
main news image

This article first appeared in The Edge Financial Daily, on June 29, 2016.

 

KUALA LUMPUR: Jaks Resources Bhd, which expects to divest its Evolve Concept Mall near Ara Damansara, Selangor, in 12 months, is in talks with several parties for the disposal.

“We are in initial discussions with several parties in relation to the divestment of the mall,” said Jaks senior corporate strategy manager Steven Ang Si Eeng, adding the disposal is part of the group’s strategy to lower its gearing and unlock value for shareholders. As at Dec 31, 2015, its gearing stood at 0.8.

Though the divestment comes amid an ongoing slowdown in the property sector, which has eroded property developers’ profits, Ang is confident of securing a buyer for the mall soon.

“With the mall’s prime location — it is next to the upcoming [Subang Depot] LRT (Light Rail Transit) Station — the fair market value will increase once the LRT line is operational,” he told reporters after the company’s annual and extraordinary general meetings yesterday.

With a net lettable area of 460,000 sq ft, Evolve Concept Mall’s current fair value stands at RM390 million, said Ang. Its website lists LOGO, Foodzine, Celebrity Fitness, Jaya Grocer and Peninsula Chinese Cuisine as its anchor tenants.

The mall’s occupancy rate currently stands at 76%. Ang said a Taiwanese cinema operator, which would take up about 25,000 sq ft of the lettable space in the mall, will commence operations by year end.

He did not specify what the asking price for the mall is, but noted that the most recent transaction involving a mall nearby was the Da:Men USJ, which was sold at RM1,150 per sq ft.

Meanwhile, Ang said Jaks will not be pumping anymore capital into its US$1.87 billion (RM7.59 billion) coal-fired thermal power plant project in Vietnam. “We will reinvest the profits generated from the second phase of the engineering, procurement and construction contract. Contribution from the Vietnamese operation will be relatively small in the second quarter, but will pick up in the second half of the year,” he said.

Meanwhile, Ang said the group is tendering for RM1.5 billion worth of sewerage and road infrastructure jobs, and expect some new jobs to be announced by year end.

“We still have RM800 million worth of outstanding order book that could support our earnings for the next two to three years,” said Ang.

      Print
      Text Size
      Share