Platinum Group plans mixed-use projects

Group president Chanchai Phansopha said the new developments would include The Market, a retail complex occupying more than 40,000 square metres.

Located close to Big C Rajdamri, opposite CentralWorld shopping complex, The Market will be opened in 2018 at an investment cost of about Bt5.8 billion. 

The group will also develop two new hotels on Koh Samui with a combined investment of about Bt1 billion: the Holiday Inn Resort with 150 rooms, and the 200-room Holiday Inn Express.

Both hotels will be located on a 10-rai (1.6-hectare) plot close to its existing community mall on the resort island, The Wharf, which was opened in December 2014.

The Holiday Inn Resort and Holiday Inn Express are both scheduled to open in 2018.

The rest of the Bt10-billion investment budget will be allocated to the acquisition of new land banks for future development, he said.

“We have revised our corporate vision from being a leading operator and manager of a wholesale centre for fashion products to a developer of property projects for commercial purposes, covering four major developments – shopping malls, hotels, office buildings and residential estates. The new vision will be used for the next 10 years,” Chanchai explained.

The Platinum Group’s listing on the stock market last month raised about Bt5 billion in capital for future investment, he said. The group’s debt-to-capital ratio is currently only 0.16.

“We posted Bt1.76 billion in revenue last year, up 22 per cent over 2014. We also achieved Bt630 million in profit, some 44 per cent higher than in the previous year,” the president said. 

Some 65 per cent of the group’s 2015 revenue was from the Platinum Fashion Mall wholesale centre. 

The strategically located Pratunam wholesale complex also includes the 283-room Novotel Bangkok Platinum Pratunam and a food court. 

The hotel posted 86-per-cent occupancy last year, with more than 90-per-cent occupancy expected this year, Chanchai said. 

The Platinum Fashion Mall has about 3,000 tenants and attracts between 35,000 and 45,000 visitors a day, including inbound shoppers from Asean – Singapore, Malaysia and Indonesia, in particular.

“We [the group] expect to achieve Bt3 billion in revenue in 2021, of which 60 per cent will be from shopping malls, 15 per cent from hotels, 10 per cent from office buildings and the rest from food courts,” he said.

The Platinum Fashion Mall, the group’s successful flagship business, has been in operation for 10 years and the group can guarantee its commitment to running this business, he stressed. The mall’s management generates continuous stable income, and its rental space is nearly fully used, with an occupancy rate of 98 per cent. 

“We are, howeverm looking for new development opportunities, especially in potential locations that link to our strategic Pratunam location in Bangkok, such as on New Phetchaburi Road. There are many new developments, especially for office buildings and residential units, within the area,” he said.

He added that the group was quite open to potential partners in any possible mergers and acquisitions for property developments, which would need to complement Platinum’s core businesses.