Auto business to help drive Permaju towards 'full-fledged profit'

KUALA LUMPUR: Permaju Industries Bhd executive director Datuk Eddie Chai is confident that the company will book its first full-fledged profit in four years.

"We are banking on registering a pre-tax profit in the current financial year," said Chai, whose family is substantial shareholder in Permaju.

Chai had cut his teeth in the property development business, having run the family's flagship firm, Lintisan Mayang Development Sdn Bhd, for the past nine years.

Ironically, it's not the property business which is going to help Permaju book its first profit in four years.

"We are expecting the automobile division to be the core earner this year. We expect the automobile business to also book its maiden profit this year," said Chai.

Last year, Permaju sold some 900 over units of Volkswagen (VW) cars in Malaysia, notching some RM150 million in sales.

"This year, we are targeting to sell 1,200 units of VW cars here," he said.

Permaju is a super dealer in Taman Tun Dr Ismail for VW cars and is also an exclusive dealer for Ford cars in Damansara.

"All the 900 VW cars we sold came from the Taman Tun Ismail showroom .

"For this year, we are targeting income from the automotive division to contribute more than 50 per cent," said Chai.

Still old habits die hard, and Chai is preparing to lead Permaju into the tried and tested path.

"My three-year target is for property development and the automobile business to be equal profit contributors," said Chai.

Permaju's maiden property venture hasn't started contributing to the company's coffers.

Chai however, feels that this will be the year the property division mapping out its roots in Permaju.

For starters, the company is preparing its maiden property launch in Sepangar, which is about 15 minutes away from Kota Kinabalu in Sabah.

He added that the company is planning for a soft launch of the mixed development project.

Some 80 per cent of the project will be residential units while 20 per cent will be commercial units.

"Our land in Sepangar is 109 acres and our mixed development project will have a gross development value of RM700 million," said Chai, adding that the company is seeking an anchor tenant to make the development more attractive.

permaju its going parabolixxxxxx



[You must be registered and logged in to see this image.]