Mah Sing group managing director and chief executive Tan Sri Leong Hoy Kum said in a statement the company was gratified to win the award for the second year running.

[Nikkei Daily Business(28/7/2009)]

·          Posted revenue of RM23.65 million for the first quarter ended 30 June 2009, a 5 per cent increase from RM22.52 million registered in the previous corresponding quarter. Net property income for the period grew marginally to RM15.23 million compared to RM15.07 million in the corresponding period last year,

·          Profit after tax rose 10 per cent to RM10.58 million against RM9.60 million before. Earnings per unit was 2.47 sen.

The improved performance arose from the contribution of income derived from positive rental reversions recorded from its three properties - Kelana Brem Towers, The Summit Subang USJ and Menara AmBank.The first quarter financial results was considered good when compared against the current global economic slowdown which also impacted the REITs industry worldwide. According to chief executive officer Lim Yoon Peng, AmFIRST Reit  is able to continue to attract and retain quality tenants, thus generating steady rental income for the Trust. For this year, the manager has lined up enhancement and repositioning works for its properties. The first building involved – Menara Merais in Petaling Jaya - should see its renovation works completed by November this yearBT:24/8/2009

CEO, Liew Mun Leong of  CapitaLand,Southeast Asia’s largest property developer CapitaLand announced that the company is to:-

• deploy S$1 billion of S$1.8 billion (S$1 = RM2.44) in capital raised from a recent rights issue to its businesses in China, Vietnam and the Ascott Group.
• S$500 million of the S$1 billion will go to its China arm, S$299 million to Vietnam and the remainder to Ascott, a wholly-owned unit that operates serviced apartments.
• The rest of the S$1.8 billion will be kept for further investment opportunities.

Source: Reuter

Details:
Auctioned property:

• Putra Place, which houses The Mall shopping complex, the five-star Legend Hotel and an office tower.
• Its reserve price was set at RM634.5 million. 
• The Mall comprises eight levels of podium retail/shopping units. The Putra Place office tower covers the tenth floor to the 33rd floor, while the 25-storey Legend Hotel includes serviced apartments and penthouses.The freehold property with 193,621 sq ft space has 1,323 parking bays. 
• The first auction was in April 2008 at a reserve price of RM705 million. As no bids were received, the price was reduced by 10 per cent to RM634.5 million.Despite heavy publicity like in the local dailies, advertisements were placed in the LA Times, The Wall Street Journal and the Jakarta Post, the second time auction was not successful

According to real estate experts:

• The commercial property, which is opposite the Putra World Trade Centre in Kuala Lumpur, did not draw interest at the public auction yesterday because of its value and size.
• Real estate agent Previndran Singhe of Zerin Properties said it was rare for people to buy big-ticket items that go under the hammer. The purchaser(s) would prefer the deals to be done via tender or private treaty, adding that interest in a property on auction would not just depend on where one advertised but also how one advertised. The notices section in a publication tends to serve as information rather than a marketing effort.
• Regroup Associates Sdn Bhd managing director Allan Soo agreed saying that when large amounts of money were involved, the buyer would normally opt to do due diligence.
• An industry player who acquires assets on a regular basis said that for an acquisition of the size of Putra Place, one would need to be informed of the risks and that there should be full disclosure like for examples: tenancies, tenures, provision for bad debts, running costs, and age and status of the mechanical and engineering and whether additional capital expenditure would be involved.

Malaysia with 11 REITS has a USD1.43bil in market capitalization which is way behind others like Singapore (USD15.1bil); Hong Kong(USD8.3bil); Taiwan(USD1.53bi) and Thailand(USD1.52bil)

[ For the Malaysia REITs, it has still not included the about to list Sunway City Bhd (Rm3.7bil) and CapitaLand Ltd’s retail REIT(first foreign sponsored REIT on Bursa Malaysia)

Below are the top 10 Asian REITs by market capitalization(USD’bil):

Some of the REITS had bounced back from their lows in December last year and some are showing remarkable growth in total returns(capital appreciation and high dividend yield

• foreign institutional investors especially pension funds and collective investment funds receiving income fro REITs listed in Bursa Malaysia are currently subject to a final witholding tax rate of 20% for 5 years; and
• non-corporate investors including resident and non-resident individuals as well as other local entities receiving income from REITs listed in Bursa Malaysia are currently subject to a final witholding tax of 15% for 5 years

Good news are in, as the Budget 2009 has allows the final witholding tax rate imposed on foreign institutional as well as non-corporate investors including individual residents and non-residents reduce to 10% . This is effective from 1.1.2009 until 31.12.2011

Description Of the to be acquired building:

• Kenanga International sits on a parcel of freehold land measuring about 6,704 sq metres,
• Is a 22-storey commercial building with three-and -half storey annexed podium block and six split level car park decks
• Has a total net lettable area of about 297,511 sq feet (2.76 hectares).

REIT said the property was currently undergoing refurbishment and upgrading works, after which it would have additional lettable area of about 70,000 sq feet.

(Source: The EdgeDaily 25-9-08)