Invest Malaysia 2014 No property bubble, says IOI’s Lee

by **Cals** Thu 12 Jun 2014, 02:55

Invest Malaysia 2014 No property bubble, says IOI’s Lee

Business & Markets 2014

Written by Charlotte Chong of theedgemalaysia.com

Wednesday, 11 June 2014 10:20

KUALA LUMPUR: IOI Corp Bhd founder and executive chairman Tan Sri Lee Shin Cheng (pic) said there is no property bubble in Malaysia, although the housing market is slowing down.

He sees fewer residential property launches and slower sales this year due to the cooling measures announced in Budget 2014.

“But once the market has adjusted to the cooling measures, I think it will be going up again and the next height will be higher than the last height,” he told reporters on the sidelines of Invest Malaysia 2014 yesterday.

Lee said for its part, IOI Properties Group Bhd is expected to launch fewer units with smaller sizes but more varieties in 2014. It will probably look at launching more affordable houses, he added.

In its third quarter earnings filing with Bursa Malaysia on May 23, IOI Properties warned that the outlook for the property market in both Malaysia and Singapore remains challenging, especially in the high-end segment.

“It is expected to soften this year but the mass market segment in Malaysia, where the group has significant presence, will remain the key revenue driver.

“On the overseas front, we have two consecutive launches in Xiamen, China during the current financial period which contributed positively to the group’s results,” the company said in its filing.
For the third quarter ended March 31, 2014, the group posted a net profit of RM90.6 million, 18% lower than the preceding quarter’s net profit of RM109.9 million on lower sales in Malaysia.

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This article first appeared in The Edge Financial Daily, on June 11, 2014.
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