Real Estate BIG Players Look for Business in India

February 15, 2007	(1 votes, average: 2 out of 5)  Loading ...
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Capitaland, Southeast Asia’s biggest developer is planning to double its real estate investment trust (REIT) portfolio to 10 by 2010, and is looking for new business prospects in China, India and Malaysia.

The group, which reported a record profit for last year, owns five REITS, including retail-based CapitaMall Trust and office-based CapitaCommercial Trust, with exposure to countries such as Singapore, China and Malaysia.

The group is also seeking to cash in on Asia’s booming property market, as he estimates the region could provide some US$400 billion of REITs.

“We have been sought after by various parties for REITs,” Liew said at a results briefing. “For us to do four or five more would not be difficult.”

Asked which countries the group was looking at, Liew said: “China is a big potential. Japan, yes, but it’s a difficult market.”

“India, if you want to let loose, you can create a lot of REITs. Malaysia still has potential.”

CapitaLand, in which state investor Temasek Holdings has a 46 percent stake, generates about 80 percent of its earnings outside of Singapore.

The firm said on Tuesday that it would pay S$41 million ($27 million) for a 13 percent stake in Japanese property trust BLife Investment Corp., making it the biggest shareholder.

CapitaLand posted a near five-fold surge in fourth-quarter net profit on Wednesday, beating expectations and helped by bumper home sales in Singapore and a write-back from asset revaluations.

The results spurred the stock more than 4 percent to a new high of S$7.55. It later eased to S$7.45, up 2.8 percent.

The group posted record profit in the full year of S$1.02 billion ($662 million), up 35.6 percent from 2005.

The developer said fourth-quarter net profit surged 389 percent to S$455.82 million, from S$93.18 million in the same period the previous year. The result beat the S$101.9 million fourth-quarter profit forecast by Reuters Estimates.

CapitaLand said assets under management are expected to reach S$18 billion by the end of 2007, up from S$14.3 billion in 2006.
Story Submitted by Priyanka Batra

News Published Under:   Real Estate India, Real Estate Developers, Members Contribution |

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