Low-profile firms set to gain from IDR, too

Low-profile firms set to gain from IDR, too

By YVONNE TAN and CHAN CHING THUT

LOW-PROFILE Crescendo Corp Bhd expects to benefit from the development of the Iskandar Development Region ( IDR), given its base in Johor and about 1,984 acres of land bank located within the IDR, managing director Gooi Seong Lim said.

Not as well known as many of its peers, Crescendo has been involved in the Johor property market for more than 20 years, with a niche in the industrial subsector.

The company’s flagship project, Taman Perindustrian Cemerlang, is one of the biggest industrial parks in the city.

“Even though there is currently a large overhang for residential properties in Johor, we expect demand for residential units to be good due to the recent incentives introduced by the Government,” he said.

Elsie Chua with the Taman Desa Tebrau project in Johor that is part of the IDR.
Gooi also said the IDR initiative would help boost the company’s business in the commercial and industrial segments.

For example, Gooi said, some of the large foreign-owned manufacturing plants have relocated to south Johor due to the availability of large parcels of land there “at low prices.”

“We expect demand for the medium-sized factories to increase, moving forward, because these factories will become supporting industries for the bigger factories,” he said.

With the above development, Gooi said, Crescendo expected land and property values in the IDR to increase, resulting in a better profit margin for the company’s industrial properties.

He said the outlook for the property and construction sector in Johor was expected to be optimistic, with good growth in view of the relaxation of requirements and tax incentives, the spillover wealth effects from Singapore’s two Integrated Resort projects and the new wealth created in the stock market.

“In view of its substantial land bank in south Johor, the group would be a prime beneficiary of this strong uptrend in the property sector,” he said.

In line with this, Crescendo was expecting better sales and performance for the financial year ending Jan 31, 2008, Gooi said.

For Plenitude Bhd, the IDR is seen as one of the key drivers of the company’s performance, moving forward.

Executive chairman Elsie Chua said Plenitude was one of the beneficiaries as its Taman Desa Tebrau project in Johor formed part of the IDR.

The project, a commercial and residential hub, covers about 110 acres.

“The expected strong growth momentum from the IDR will generate more wealth, thus allowing more people to commit to buying properties,” she said.

She added that the various infrastructure works to be carried out would provide opportunities for Plenitude to further enhance its position in Johor.

Another relatively quiet company, KSL Holdings Bhd, is also set to make waves in the IDR.

The company has been involved in property development activities since 1981 and has 1,100 acres of land bank within the IDR.

Executive director Ku Tien Sek said this would certainly benefit the company. The land bank should keep the company busy for another eight years.

“We currently have three ongoing mixed development projects comprising commercial and residential units,” he said.

The three developments – Taman Bestari Indah, Taman Kempas Indah and Taman Nusa Bestari – have an estimated gross development value of RM1.5bil.

Given their proximity to Singapore, Ku said, its developments were also expected to benefit from the Integrated Resort projects on the island republic.

“As the announcement on the removal of real property gains tax just took effect, it will take a few more months before the momentum kicks in. We could expect foreign buyers, especially from Singapore, to take advantage of this,” he added.