Pruksa plans 34 projects worth up to Bt30 bn next year

If those targets are achieved, presales will up 20 per cent and revenue up 30 per cent from this year’s targets of Bt29 billion and Bt26 billion respectively, Pruksa director and chief business officer Prasert Taedullayasatit told a news conference yesterday.

In the first nine months of this year, the company saw revenue of Bt18.77 billion, up 0.26 per cent year on year, and net profit of Bt2.63 billion, up 6.04 per cent.

The company also reported presales of Bt21.5 billion in the first 10 months, or about 74 per cent of |its full-year presale target of Bt29 billion.

President and chief executive officer Thongma Vijitphongpun said the company believed that its presales will achieve this year’s target of Bt29 billion as it plans to launch 14 new projects worth Bt10.38 billion in the final two months.

He said demand to buy homes started to recover in the third quarter both for low-rises, including detached houses and townhouses, and for condominium projects when people regained their confidence that the country would not face another flood disaster like last year’s.

Flood an accident

"Home-buyers know that the flood last year was an accident that will not happen in the future," Thongma said.

The company has set aside an investment budget of Bt6 billion to buy undeveloped land next year, Thongma said. This will focus both on Greater Bangkok and provinces including Phuket, Chiang Mai and Chon Buri.

Part of its investment budget will come from the company’s cash flow and part from bank loans, while maintaining its debt-to-equity ratio at not over 1.2:1.

Currently, the company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.92:1.

"Between 6 and 7 per cent of our income will come from the provinces next year compared with 5 per cent this year," he said.

Pruksa will also glean about Bt1 billion in revenue from overseas this year. Half of that will come from its residential project in Maldives, and the rest from India.

"Our investment in Maldives will generate a net profit margin of about 5 per cent. That is lower than the estimate because Maldives has devalued its currency and faced high inflation. As a result, we will move out of Maldives after transferring the rest of the project to our customers," Thongma said.

However, the company has maintained its investment in India, which generates a net profit margin averaging 15 per cent, and will begin building and selling homes in Vietnam next year, he said.

Pruksa is also looking at investing in Indonesia, possibly next year or the year after, he said.