SC Asset launching 9 housing projects this quarter

The company also will issue a three-and-a-half-year debenture worth Bt2 billion next month that will offer an interest rate of more than 5 per cent. The money raised will be used for its project developments this year and next, as it plans to launch between eight and 10 projects worth more than Bt10 billion in 2012.
SC Asset is the property arm |of the Shinawatra family, and ranks in the top 10 listed property firms.
Chief operating officer Kree Dejchai said six of the nine projects will be low-rise residences under the brands Grand Bangkok Boulevard, Bangkok Boulevard, Vista One 8ight O, and Work Place, and the other three will be condominiums under the brands The Crest and The Centric.
Although some potential customers are delaying visits to housing projects because of the flood crisis, that will not affect demand for homes priced over Bt5 million, the company believes.
Meanwhile, SC Asset’s existing projects near the nine new ones have continued to see demand, so the company is confident at launching nine more in the current quarter.
The Bangkok Boulevard projects will be in three locations: Ratchaphruek-Rama V, Ram Inthra 3, and Theparak-Ring Road. The three other low-rise projects are Grand Bangkok Boulevard at Ram Inthra, Vista One 8ight O at Theparak-Ring Road, and Work Place at Petchkasem 81.
The three condominium projects are The Crest Sukhumvit 24 and Sukhumvit 49 and The Centric at Tiwanon station.
The company expects |sales worth Bt2.1 billion from |the nine new projects. This will drive its presales to achieve |the target of Bt8 billion by the |end of the year. The company reported presales worth Bt5.9 |billion in the first nine months, up 85 per cent from the same period last year.
Next year, the company plans to launch eight to 10 projects worth more than Bt10 billion, which should boost its 2012 presales to Bt10 billion, chief financial officer Attapol Sariddipuntawat said.
SC Asset has set aside a budget to buy Bt5 billion worth of undeveloped land next year after spending Bt4 billion on land in the first nine months of this year. Its total budget this year for land purchase is Bt5 billion.
Attapol said that when the company issued the debenture worth Bt2 billion next month, “that will increase our debt-to-equity ratio from 0.7:1 to 0.8:1, which is still within our business policy to keep the ratio lower than 1:1”, he said.
The company targets annual net-profit growth of 15-17 per cent, he said.