This article first appeared in The Edge Financial Daily, on January 7, 2016.

KUALA LUMPUR: Mah Sing Group Bhd is targeting to achieve sales of RM2.3 billion for 2016, similar to its 2015 target.

“The year 2016 will be a very exciting one for us. Despite the challenges, we are launching the right products at the right locations. We expect the take-up [rate] to be very high,” the group’s chief executive officer Ng Chai Yong told reporters yesterday after the launch of a customer reward campaign.

“The other thing is about lending, it’s difficult everywhere today. But one thing good about Mah Sing is that we are a tier-one developer. If all things being equal, we are in a more favourable position compared with our peers or competitors because the banks are more confident of us,” he added.

Ng said Mah Sing this year will still focus on building affordable products for the mass market that are priced within the RM500,000 range, supplemented by its existing high-end residential units, industrial products and retail spaces.

However, Ng declined to reveal the group’s updated unbilled sales and whether it managed to achieve its 2015 sales target, saying these will be announced with its fourth-quarter results next month.

On the group’s land bank, Ng said the size is at 2,540 acres (1,028ha), with plots scattered in the Klang Valley (60%), the Iskandar region (24%), Penang (10%) and Sabah (6%).

Ng said the group will continue to ensure easy entry for buyers. One way is to bill their purchases only upon project completion.

“That way, the buyer does not need to bear the interest incurred during the construction period. We will bear it instead. They are only required to pay the 10% deposit,” he said.

During the campaign launch, Ng said Mah Sing is giving out cash rebates to purchases made during Jan 1 to Feb 28, 2016, for 13 of the group’s projects.