Pelangi eyes 10pc sales growth

Pelangi eyes 10pc sales growth

By BUSINESS TIMES

JOHOR-BASED property developer Pelangi Bhd aims to grow its sales by 10 per cent this year, stronger than its single-digit growth last year, helped by the growth of Iskandar Development Region and better economic sentiment.

Pelangi chief executive officer Azmar Talib said the firm plans to launch 12 phases of residential and commercial areas this year, which have a gross development value of some RM400 million.

"The commercial development alone is expected to generate more than RM200 million in gross development value to the company," he said in an interview yesterday.

Azmar said there are signs of improving prospects in the Johor property market, including sales of unsold units that have started to pick up.

The company, which owned more than 300 units of unsold non-low-cost houses in 2005, had only about 170 units of unsold non-low-cost houses last year.

"We target to sell our entire unsold non- low-cost houses by the end of this year," Azmar said.

He said the firm is in talks with the authorities on potential solutions to sell its low-cost houses. "Hopefully the property market can bounce back."

The company is also planning to unveil some residential properties by the end of this year.

Their launches will be done in a smaller scale, which comprise of 30 to 50 residential units each.

By launching in a smaller scale, Pelangi hopes to not only manage its risk better, but also better design houses that suit customers' tastes.