KUALA LUMPUR: Sky-Park@Cyberjaya, said to be the cyber city’s upcoming landmark with its hanging garden feature reminding one of Marina Bay Singapore, is progressing ahead of plan, said its developer MCT Consortium Bhd.
“We have completed almost two million sq ft out of the planned total built-up area of over four million sq ft. So I think we are still ahead of plan,” MCT’s managing director Datuk Seri Tong Seech Wi (pic) told The Edge Financial Daily in a recent interview.
The 11-acre (4.4ha) project is slated to be completed by the end of 2017, said Tong. Its total gross development value (GDV) is RM1.09 billion, comprising six blocks of high-rise towers with serviced apartments, SoFo (small office flexible office), offices, retail space and a hotel.
MCT is to keep the hotel and office towers for recurring income, while the rest of the components are for sale.
“In fact, we have sold all the units for this project, and there are even parties who approached us to sell the office building which we own. That shows the confidence people have in our project,” Tong said.
The success of Sky-Park@Cyberjaya will be critical to MCT, which has the majority of its developments in the Cyberjaya vicinity while it is heading to list on Bursa Malaysia next month.
To recap, MCT is taking over the listing status of Bursa Malaysia-listed GW Plastics Holdings Bhd via a reverse takeover (RTO) exercise.
This is by way of GW Plastics acquiring MCT for RM1.15 billion via the issuance of new GW Plastics shares as well as loan stocks to MCT’s vendors, which are Tong and business partner Tan Sri Barry Goh.
Following the completion of the exercise, GW Plastics will then be renamed as MCT Bhd.
According to Tong, the group is targeting to conclude the RTO exercise by the end of March, including the placement of new shares by MCT Bhd to raise some RM300 million from the market.
While he noted the poor timing of the exercise in view of near-term economic challenges, Tong is optimistic that the group can secure investors’ confidence and support given MCT’s track record.
“Our track record is impressive enough. We have been through two financial crises in the past, and yet remain sustainable until today,” he said.
Research houses have been cautious about the property market this year.
“We envisage another tough year for the property sector as empirical evidence suggests that developers have experienced slowdown in their new sales since the second half of 2014 with no signs of pre-GST (goods and services tax) rush and relaxation of tightened lending,” JF Apex Securities Research stated in its Jan 5 research note.
On this, Tong said, “We will ensure that our corporate strategy continues to be relevant to market conditions. For example, our LakeFront@Cyberjaya project also features over 3,200 units of affordable houses, for which demand is growing.”
On top of that, Tong said MCT is buffered by better-than-average development margins, which he attributed to the company’s building technology — modular construction technology.
According to him, this method standardises and prefabricates building modules, which could expedite building progress and increase efficiency, hence achieve better cost savings for the group.
Meanwhile, the total GDV of MCT’s ongoing and outstanding development projects comes up to RM9.43 billion. These developments are located in close proximity to Putrajaya, Kuala Lumpur International Airport and klia2, which the management said has good long-term potential.
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This article first appeared in The Edge Financial Daily, on March 2, 2015.