Maintain “hold” with revised target price of RM2. Excluding exceptional items of RM103 million, E&O’s fourth quarter financial year 2015 (4QFY15) core earnings came in at only RM3.4 million.

This takes FY15 core profit to RM43 million, which is significantly below consensus’ and our projection as we had earlier expected a much stronger quarterly profit.

E&O completed two blocks of the Andaman Condominiums project in Seri Tanjung Pinang (STP) during the quarter, which saw a 38% year-on-year (y-o-y) drop in revenue to RM143 million.

A first and final dividend per share in the form of one treasury share for every 50 E&O shares has also been proposed, resulting in 3.7 sen per share.

Meanwhile, net gearing rose to 60% due to the acquisition of Landmark House and Thames Tower in London for £57 million (RM310 million).

On outlook, E&O has achieved RM940 million sales in FY15 driven by its projects in Johor, the Klang Valley, Penang and the United Kingdom. Launches in the pipeline in financial year 2016 (FY16) include those of Avira Garden Terraces Phase 2 and 3, Tamarind Executive Apartments@STP Phase 2, as well as the Conlay project.

The tender for the STP2 reclamation was completed on May 11, 2015 and a tender interview will be conducted on May 29 for the four bids which will be followed by the reclamation contract award. E&O is expected to finalise its long-term strategic partner for its STP2A’s 253 acres (102.38ha) within six months, given the high capital requirement for the massive reclamation works.

E&O has announced that its UK property arm will pursue a listing on the AIM of the London Stock Exchange this year to grow its franchise via a local platform.

It is expected to reduce its holdings in E&O UK to below 50%, though it will remain the single-largest shareholder of E&O UK. This is estimated to reduce E&O’s net gearing to 30% after the de-consolidation.

We have now imputed slower property sales in view of the cautious sentiment. We note that E&O’s inventory has increased to RM208 million in FY15 from RM75 million in FY14. This could be attributed to the completed units at Andaman Condominiums.

The risks include the STP2 reclamation requiring heavy capital spending, given the huge area involved. Future phases will likely need joint-venture partners or rights issue.

With the Penang and Johor state governments imposing additional restrictions on top of Budget 2014, this could discourage foreign buyers to whom E&O has a large exposure. — AllianceDBS Research, May 26

Source: TheEdgeProperty.com

Bank Negara Malaysia (BNM) has reiterated that there has been no tightening of policy for first-time home buyers.
However, its governor Tan Sri Dr Zeti Akhtar Aziz said all borrowers need to be credit-worthy and therefore, there is an affordability test.

“If a borrower can demonstrate that they have income stream that can service their borrowing, then they will be entitled and eligible to borrow,” she told reporters yesterday.

She noted that there’s only been a tightening on borrowing for third-time borrowers …”that means if you are borrowing for your third property, and there’s been a tightening if you are purchasing multiple properties. Our policy is not to allow our country to become over leveraged, over indebted because it has very severe consequences as we have seen what happens in other countries,” she added.

She was commenting on Johor state government’s calls for BNM to relax its regulations on banks in approving loans for eligible house buyers, especially first-time home buyers.

Source: TheSunDaily.my

Picture of grace: Dancers entertaining the crowd during the FIABCI Malaysia: Penang Branch Members Night 2015 in Gurney Paragon Mall.

The state government is delivering its promise of providing affordable homes to Penangites, said Housing, Town and Country Planning Committee chairman Jagdeep Singh Deo.

Out of the 12 planned projects comprising 22,512 units, four are already in progress in Bandar Cassia on the mainland, as well as Teluk Kumbar, Kampung Jawa and Jalan S.P. Chelliah on the island.

Jagdeep pointed out that the former would be completed next year, with the next two in 2017, and the latter in 2018.

“The time for planning and announcing is over.

He praised the private sector for their support in the affordable housing initiatives, which a reliable property website has cited as generating the most interest amongst house hunters.

At the same time, Jagdeep also called on the Federal Government to clarify its allocation of affordable housing units for Penang under its Perumahan Rakyat 1Malaysia (PR1MA) programme.

He referred to Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak’s Budget 2015 announcement in December last year, which stated that RM1.3bil was to be allocated to PR1MA to build some 80,000 such units in the country.

“Furthermore, in the recent tabling of the 11th Malaysia Plan, promises were made that 653,000 units of affordable housing would be built in the next five years by various parties.

“But it failed to state how many would be delivered to Penang,” he said to over 100 property industry players last Friday.

FIABCI Penang Branch chairman Khor Siang Gin said the appreciation dinner, held for the first time, was aimed at fostering closer ties and providing a platform for mutually beneficial discussions.

Like his counterparts, Khor said he was also concerned about escalating property prices in Penang, which could be attributed to higher land, construction and material costs.

“We need to face and address such issues, to continue to attract local and foreign investment in the state for sustainable economic growth.

“On the brighter side, we expect the local property market to remain healthy and consistent,” Khor added.

Guests were later treated to a sumptuous buffet dinner at the mall’s Penang on 6 precinct, and enjoyed entertainment by dance and musical groups.

Source: TheStar.com.my

Connectivity & Accessibility

More than 30 years ago, before the Penang Bridge was built, it was a big thing for people from mainland to go to the island. Property investment in the Island vs mainland was hardly discussed because travelling to the other side of Penang taking ferry on a daily basis just doesn’t make much sense. One would just buy a house nearby where they work and where most of their relatives and friends are staying.

With the opening of Penang Bridge in 1985, it has substantially enhanced the connectivity and accessibility between the island and mainland. It has also been an important infrastructure to support the regional economic growth by improving access to the key employment region, airport and schools. The spur of economic development has eventually led to the rapid increase in property prices in Penang.

Today, most people think that with better connectivity between the island and mainland, properties in the mainland will be the sole gainer. Actually that’s not entirely correct. With the opening of 2nd bridge, the obvious winners are both Batu Kawan and Batu Maung. It is not about how many are going to move to Batu Kawan, neither it is about how often a person will buy furniture from IKEA. It is the economic multiplier effect that brings more value and development into those the two areas.

With better connectivity, people are more willing to stay further away from their workplace as long as they have easy accessibility to education, shopping and eateries. There is a common suggestion that one should buy a house near their workplace so that they can save time travelling to work. This is not always true as the subconscious element of selfish thoughts is involved in making the decision. Think about the time your family spent in the car while sending children to schools, tuition classes, music lessons, sports, going out for dinner, glossary shopping and etc. Do you still think that travelling to the office take up most of your time?

To get an idea of how much time is needed to travel from one place to the center of FTZ during peak hours, some samples based on Google traffic at 7:50am in the morning is captured:

Obviously, travelling to work from these locations would take you roughly between 20-40 minutes. What is more important is the accessibility to nearby amenities, which may cumulatively take more than 40 minutes of your family time in travelling.

Putting aside the travelling to work place, both island and mainland are equally well connected to amenities that serve our daily needs. However, I would have to agree that Penang Island generally has more high-performing schools and better health care centers. Until mainland is developed with more international education institutions, the availability of International schools and colleges are definitely a plus for Penang Island.

OTHER TOPICS:
Penang Island vs Mainland (Part 1) – Location branding
Penang Island vs Mainland (Part 2) – Land scarcity or abundant?
Penang Island vs Mainland (Part 4) – Population

– Ken Lim
(Founder and Principal Reviewer, PenangPropertyTalk.com)

Tougher credit checks on potential buyers and lending curbs imposed by Bank Negara is distorting the market, claims a top official at Malaysia’s biggest grouping of property developers.

Real Estate and Housing Developers’ Association (Rehda) Malaysia reveals that due to the high rejection rates of housing loan applications, many developers have delayed their property launches, especially affordable houses.

As the supply of new affordable houses slows, the pressure is on prices to increase.

“These people are not speculators because for those interested to buy affordable homes, the Government had set specific criteria such as no sub-selling and a 10-year period before they can resell the units,” its president Datuk Seri Fateh Iskandar Mohamed Mansor said.

He urged Bank Negara to review its policy, especially the ones that affected lower income groups looking to purchase their first home.

Fateh Iskandar was speaking to reporters after launching Glomac Bhd’s RM710mil mixed housing project in Kulai, Johor.

Meanwhile, Austin Heights Sdn Bhd managing director Datuk Steve Chong also agrees that there is a distorted supply and demand in the high-rise sector in Iskandar Malaysia.

“Other properties are doing reasonably well, no doubt the temporary slowdown is due to the recently implemented goods and services tax, the financial slowdown and the cautious buying sentiment,” he said.

He said the temporary setback should not hold back property developers as buyers knew that anytime was a good time to buy properties.

“I say that the setback is temporary because in the long run, the housing market in Johor will still be on the uptrend,” he said.

Chong is positive that the situation will turn for the better once the connectivity between Johor and Singapore improved, especially with the development of the high-speed rail link and rapid transit system.

“More Singaporeans will then definitely come to Johor to buy properties and settle down here.

“Comparing the prices of property in Johor and Singapore, I think more would prefer to buy houses here and commute to the island for work,” he said.

He added that many senior managers and executives from Singapore were buying properties here.

Source: TheStar.com.my