A gem waiting to be polished. That’s how TAHPS Group Bhd’s newly appointed CEO, Eugene Khoo Kong Hooi, describes the zero-debt plantation and property development company that owns a sprawling 600 acres of land in Bandar Bukit Puchong and Puchong, Selangor.
“When I was talking to the owners of TAHPS, I looked at the company’s balance sheet, business model and asset base [and] I found out that TAHPS is actually a diamond that has yet to be polished. A company with zero borrowings and 600 acres of prime land. What more can you ask for?” he tells The Edge in an interview.
Thus, the immediate task of Khoo, who assumed his current role last October, is to dust and polish the 110-year-old TAHPS till it shines.
“There is significant potential to grow the company. It just needs a bit of work, apply some polish here and there. With the team I have, I’m sure we can take TAHPS to the next level,” he says.
Khoo, 50, is a seasoned banker with over 20 years of experience in the banking industry. But in a business where he is a newcomer, Khoo acknowledges that he still has much to learn about the property industry.
“Through my years in banking, we did a lot of forward-thinking strategy work and building financial forecasts. A banker’s job is to package and sell the story. How well you sell the story determines things like investors’ interest and valuations. If you are very good at packaging [the story], your job will be easier,” he explains.
In TAHPS’ case, however, the company needs more than just packaging.
“To be successful in the property market, you need to be known. If people don’t know you, how can you sell your properties to the public?” Khoo asks.
TAHPS, formerly known as The Ayer Hitam Planting Syndicate Ltd, was incorporated in 1907 before it went for listing on the Kuala Lumpur Stock Exchange in 1961. In the early days, the company cultivated rubber on the Bukit Hitam Estate in Selangor. In its centenary year, the company adopted its new name, TAHPS. Today, it is mainly involved in property development and oil palm cultivation.
Two things Khoo wants to do in the immediate term are to build the corporate identity of TAHPS and revisit its master plan for the Bandar Bukit Puchong township development.
“That’s because the existing master plan for Bandar Bukit Puchong was done many years ago and needs to be refreshed to keep up with current and future trends,” he says.
“We have engaged an international brand consultant to help us with rebranding, and we hope to launch [the new brand] in the coming months. We are also working with an international master planner for the master planning exercise, and we hope to complete it this year as well.”
Bandar Bukit Puchong is an established multiphase township project. It still has projects with a gross development value (GDV) of more than RM15 billion in the pipeline, to be developed over the next 12 to 15 years.
“If we do a good job in the next five years, maybe that (completion) will be accelerated to 10 years,” says Khoo.
At Bandar Bukit Puchong, TAHPS is looking at an integrated eco-friendly sustainable type of development, with emphasis on parks, landscaping and greenery.
“We will have the residential component, be it low-rise, high-rise or landed properties. We will also have other components such as healthcare, recreational, education, retail and lifestyle living,” Khoo says.
To date, TAHPS has completed at least three projects in Bandar Bukit Puchong, namely Epic Residence (exclusive low-density serviced apartments), Foreston (bungalows and semi-detached houses) and BP Newton shopoffices.
In its nine-month period last year (from April 1 to Dec 31), TAHPS reported a net profit of RM10 million on revenue of RM52.5 million. The property segment accounted for 85% of the group’s revenue, while the remaining 15% came from its plantation division. Of the 85% revenue, the split between landed and non-landed properties was about 50:50.
Amid concern over the slowdown in the property market, Khoo says TAHPS is in no hurry to launch new projects.
Link Villas, a low-density healthy lifestyle link villa project with a GDV of about RM100 million, could be the next development the group is aiming to launch. It also has another pending landed property project, which has yet to be finalised.
“The market is very soft right now and there is an oversupply of properties. We are monitoring the situation and will consider new launches once the market recovers. We are also talking to some international brands and multinational corporations to set up commercial or industrial facilities on our vacant land in Bukit Puchong,” says Khoo.
He concedes that TAHPS is not a well-known property developer in the country yet, and it is his job to raise awareness of the TAHPS name and its Bukit Puchong development.
“While we are well known in Bukit Puchong, very few people know us [beyond the project]. Indeed, many people know where Puchong is, but very few know where Bukit Puchong is,” Khoo says.
“That is a fundamental issue for us. We have to get ourselves known outside Bukit Puchong, from a corporate and developer perspective. We used to be a very low-profile company ... it will no longer be the case going forward.”
But there is one thing going for TAHPS currently. Khoo points out that TAHPS is one of the few property firms in the country that have no debt.
“If you look at all the successful property developers in Malaysia, how many of them have zero gearing? None, I think. Almost all of them are geared, maybe 20% to 30%, even 40% or more,” he says.
As at Dec 31 last year, TAHPS had net cash of RM71.3 million.
“Today, bankers have started to take notice of us and are knocking on our doors to start a relationship. They see potential in the company and want to work with us, which is a good sign,” Khoo says.
But considering his banking background, one would not be surprised if he takes the route of borrowing money from banks to fund TAHPS’ future projects.
Save by subscribing to us for your print and/or digital copy.
P/S: The Edge is also available on Apple's AppStore and Androids' Google Play.