Golden Land eyes boom

It also plans to spend up to Bt2.7 billion to buy land for breaking ground on residential projects this year.

President Thanapol Sirithanachai said yesterday that the investment capital will come from selling two office buildings – Sathorn Square and Park Venture Ecoplex – to the company’s Bt10 billion real |estate investment trust (REIT) next quarter.

After transferring assets to the REIT, the company’s debt-to-equity ratio will fall from 1.3 to below 1, providing an opportunity to expand to boost its total revenue to Bt30 billion by 2019 and join the top five in the market, he said.

The company plans to roll out 10 residential projects or more a year, depending on market sentiment. However, if the economy grows sluggishly, it may end up missing the target.

"This is our goal but it may be better or lower than expected, depending on the country’s economic outlook in the future. That we cannot estimate," he said.

The company is aiming for Bt8 billion in revenue this year, of which Bt7.28 billion will come from residential sales and Bt720 million from rental income from its office building.

The company wants to unload two non-core assets – the Panorama Golf Course at Kho Yai and undeveloped land in Krabi worth together Bt900 million – in the second half of this year.

If the sales go through, the company’s revenue will |do better than the forecast of Bt8 |billion.

For last year, the company predicts revenue of Bt3.8 billion after recording revenue of Bt2.36 billion and net profit of Bt381.20 million in the first nine months.

The company expects to double revenue this year thanks to its acquisition of a 100-per-cent stake in Krungthep Land Plc. The deal has already closed.

Two of the 13 new projects will be luxury single-family home estates under the brand of Krungthep Land.

The 11 other projects will be developed by Golden Land Residence Co, a |subsidiary of Golden Land Property Development, said Saenphin Sukhee, |who is the managing director of both Golden Land Residence and Krungthep Land.

The property market should do better than last year because the economy is expected to grow 3.5-4.5 per cent. That will drive the property market up 5-10 per cent this year, he said.

Residential prices this year would be maintained at nearly last year’s level as construction material costs are steady and logistics and transportation costs are easing in tandem with oil prices.

The company believes that its sales will achieve the target of Bt9 billion, of which Bt7.28 billion will be booked as revenue this year.