Wisma Selangor Dredging sold for RM480mil; special dividend in store

KUALA LUMPUR: Selangor Dredging Bhd (SDB) is selling its headquarters Wisma Selangor Dredging, located in the city centre, for RM480mil in cash.

In a filing with Bursa Malaysia, the property developer said it expected to make a gain of RM146.8mil from the proposed sale. This translates into a 32-sen improvement in earnings per share.

SDB said it entered into a conditional agreement on Tuesday to sell the piece of freehold land on Jalan Ampang, along with the four blocks of commercial building on it, to Golden Eagle Realty Sdn Bhd. Golden Eagle is ultimately 99% owned by businessman Tan Sri Koo Yuen Kim.

The 30-year-old Wisma Selangor Dredging has a market value of RM372.1mil (as appraised by an independent valuer as at May 15) and audited net book value of RM318mil (as at March 31 last year).
 

Two years ago SDB had said it was open to selling Hotel Maya, its property located a stone's throw away from Wisma Selangor Dredging, but did not give any price indication. Hotel Maya's net book value as at March 31, 2016, was RM150mil.

“The proposed disposal (of Wisma Selangor Dredging) provides an opportunity for the SDB group to unlock its investment in the subject property and generate immediate cash flow for the group,” the company said.

Of the RM480mil gross proceeds, the largest portion (RM248.75mil) will be used to fully settle the redemption sum owing to Public Bank Bhd to release the existing lien-holder’s caveat and the bank’s interest over the sale property.

A sum of RM103.07mil will be set aside for the SDB group’s working capital and RM80.96mil will be distributed to shareholders via a special cash dividend.

According to this writer's back-of-the-envelope calculation, the special dividend will be about 19 sen per share based on SDB shares in issue as at March 31, 2016. SDB paid annual dividends ranging from 1.5 sen to 3 sen per share over the last few years.

SDB will also use part of the proceeds - RM19.2mil - to repay bank borrowings, which is expected to result in RM0.96mil in annual interest savings. (SDB has total group borrowings of about RM563.76mil.)

After the proposed disposal, SDB net gearing is expected to fall to 0.05 times compared with 0.33 times as at March 31, 2016.

The counter closed at 96 sen on Tuesday, up 3 sen with 101,200 shares changing hands. SDB share price has gained 17% year-to-date.

Source : http://www.thestar.com.my/business/business-news/2017/06/20/wisma-selangor-dredging-sold-or-rm480mil/

Prudential to move to Tun Razak Exchange by 2019

KUALA LUMPUR: Prudential will be relocating its headquarters to a 27-storey building in the upcoming Tun Razak Exchange here, Malaysia’s first dedicated international financial district.
Slated for opening by 2019, the building will house all of Prudential’s life insurance and asset management businesses in Malaysia under one roof.

Master developer TRX City Sdn Bhd CEO Datuk Azmar Talib said it now moves even closer towards realising TRX as a truly international financial district, with the confirmed participation of some of the world’s top banks and financial institutions.

The commercial tower, currently under construction, is developed by TRX. The Prudential plot is adjacent to TRX’s main pedestrian gateway from the Bukit Bintang area.

Currently, Prudential’s offices are spread out across Jalan Sultan Ismail and Bukit Bintang. The move will consolidate all its operations in the new building, which will include a walk-in customer service centre.

Prudential has been in Asia for more than 90 years, with Malaysia as its longest established operation in the region.

To date, TRX has signed global property and infrastructure group Lendlease to jointly develop the Lifestyle Quarter; HSBC Malaysia and Affin Bank Bhd for office towers; Indonesia’s leading property developer Mulia International to build Signature Tower; Lembaga Tabung Haji and WCT Bhd for residential plots, and global leader in water management Veolia Water Technologies as the water treatment and recycling concessionaire.

Source : http://www.thesundaily.my/node/473415

Amanahraya REIT buys Intermark’s Vista Tower for RM455m

KUALA LUMPUR (Sep 7): Amanahraya Real Estate Investment Trust (ARREIT) is acquiring Vista Tower, a 63-storey office building, from The Intermark Sdn Bhd for RM455 million in cash.

The office tower with two concourse levels and three basement levels has a land area of  228,948 square feet, according to a filing with Bursa Malaysia by the REIT’s management company, AmanahRaya-Kenedix REIT Manager Sdn Bhd.

The building’s net lettable area is 551,875 square feet, and the occupancy rate was 74.4% as of July 31 and could fall to 66.3% due to the non-renewal of one of the tenancy agreements upon expiry on Nov 30, said AmanahRaya-Kenedix.

It added that the purchase consideration was below the market value, estimated at about RM523 million, based on the investment method.

According to the filing, the proposed acquisition will elevate the ranking of Amanahraya REIT to among the top 10 REITs in Malaysia by total asset value (TAV), as its TAV will grow from RM1.03 billion to RM1.56 billion with the completion of the acquisition.

This, it added, will enhance the overall presence and reputation of Amanahraya REIT among the Malaysian investment community.

AmanahRaya-Kenedix said the acquisition will also enable diversification and enlargement of the portfolio of assets under its management, which is expected to benefit Amanahraya REIT in the long-term as a result of economies of scale.

The purchase consideration, it said, will be funded via a medium-term note programme with RM450 million notes issues and internally generated funds of RM5 million.

AmanahRaya-Kenedix said there is no additional financial commitments from Amanahraya REIT, except for the capital expenditure to be incurred in the course of its normal operations since Vista Tower is already established and fully operational.

The trading of Amanahraya REIT shares has been suspended since yesterday afternoon and will resume trading tomorrow.

Source: http://www.theedgemarkets.com/article/amanahraya-reit-buy-vista-tower

Lendlease gets okay for construction of TRX

PROPERTY and infrastructure group Lendlease Corp has received all the approvals to progress the Lifestyle Quarter of the Tun Razak Exchange (TRX) to the next stage and has moved into the construction phase of the development.

Australia-listed Lendlease is the joint-venture partner of TRX City Sdn Bhd in developing the Lifestyle Quarter at TRX, a 6.88ha mixed-use development.

Lendlease owns 60% of the partnership, while the remaining 40% stake is held by TRX City.

Lendlease is also the development and construction manager for the project, which has an estimated development end value of around RM8 billion.

Among the approvals received by the company include the Earthworks Plan Approval from the Kuala Lumpur City Hall that would allow it to proceed with construction at the site.

“With the approvals, works at the TRX Lifestyle Quarter comprising a new city centre retail mall, six residential towers, a luxury hotel and park are now in full swing.

“The excavation has been completed. Piling for the retail component is progressing well, with almost 500 structural piles completed,” the group announced in a statement yesterday.

With over 120,774 sq m (1.3 million sq ft) of net lettable area, the project has to date leased 26% of its retail space to include Japanese departmental store Seibu, an upscale supermarket brand by Hong Kong-based Dairy Farm Group, and a Golden Screen Cinemas theatre.

TRX is an upcoming RM40 billion international finance and business district located between Jalan Tun Razak and Jalan Bukit Bintang.

Its master developer is TRX City, a wholly owned unit of the Ministry of Finance Inc.

Source : https://themalaysianreserve.com/2017/09/15/lendlease-gets-okay-construction-trx/