Sansiri turns focus back to Bangkok

“Purchasing power in the provincial market has faded in the face of falling crop prices,” said Uthai Uthaisangsuk, the firm’s senior executive vice president of business development and high-rise project development.

“We’ve set our condo sales target at Bt22 billion this year and we’re confident that we can achieve it.” 

The firm’s total revenue target is Bt34 billion. 

All of the new condo projects will sit along Skytrain routes.

The Line will be developed by a joint venture with Skytrain operator BTS Group Holdings. It will be located near Chatuchak station. The Bt5.6-billion project will be launched next quarter. The first project is the Bt1.4-billion The Monument, sited just 300 metres from Sanam Pao Station. 

“We are proceeding in line with our ‘engineer for growth’ approach,” Uthai said.

Last year, Sansiri’s profits came very close to its target rate of 12 per cent despite the economic slowdown.

It attracted many foreign customers, with the Chinese buying the most units. The biggest group by value is the Russians.

To respond efficiently to the changing circumstances upcountry, Sansiri has decided to concentrate on just Bangkok this year. Also, there was no clear-cut information on transport-infrastructure development in the provinces. 

Sansiri decided to suspend plans to develop two condo projects in the Northeast as it waited to see how the new rail route would be developed in the region. 

The firm now had Bt15 billion in unsold condos upcountry and Bt5 billion in Bangkok while existing projects continue. 

Sansiri will not stay away from the provincial market for long, Uthai said, pointing out that the upcoming Asean Economic Community would likely spur the upcountry market and the firm would definitely make investments there. Plus Concierge will be a new service designed to respond to customers who have bought units for investment. It will be available in six provinces this year.

This builds on the success of Sansiri’s Rental for the Holiday, which was brought out last year. It offers long leases for foreign customers interested in vacation homes, he said.

This year, Sansiri has a Bt7-billion budget in hand for the purchase of land that will be used for its 2016 projects.