Tropicana's focus on Klang Valley

Tropicana Corp Bhd intends to focus more on development activities within the Klang Valley this year, where it has more than 1,000 acres of development land, with potential gross development value (GDV) of RM24.5bil.

“These include the 863-acre Tropicana Aman in Canal City which is earmarked for an integrated township with potential GDV of RM13bil for which the maiden launch is expected this year,” it told Bursa Malaysia.

Tropicana also said it was preparing to launch new phases of terrace homes in Tropicana Heights, Kajang, and the third serviced apartment block in Tropicana Gardens, an integrated mixed development located in Kota Damansara with direct link to the Surian MRT station.

“As part of the group’s ongoing degearing initiatives, Tropicana had on Jan 26, 2015, entered into an agreement to sell Tropicana City Mall and Tropicana City Office Tower in Petaling Jaya, for a cash consideration of RM540Mil to Capitamalls Malaysia Trust,” it said. “Upon completion, the group’s net gearing level is expected to improve from 0.68 times to 0.5 times.”

It also announced a proposed revaluation surplus, net of deferred tax, of about RM16.65mil for the year ended Dec 31, 2014.

Tropicana Corp Bhd’s net profit for its fourth quarter ended Dec 31 fell 23% to RM198.66mil from RM256.45mil a year earlier on lower earnings from its property investment and resort operations segment.

The company told the stock exchange that the segment recorded a 5.5% decrease in revenue to RM34.6mil from RM36.6mil a year earlier.

Tropicana’s revenue for the fourth quarter rose to RM964.29mil from RM444.68mil previously.

For the full 2014 financial year, net profit slipped to RM333.94mil from RM362.31mil while revenue increased to RM1.97bil from RM1.48bil a year earlier.

Tropicana attributed the better revenue to higher revenue recognition across key projects and gain from land sales. The firm said it recognised RM470.7mil revenue from land sales.

“Overall, Tropicana delivered solid sales performance for the year under review, chalking up new sales of RM1.5bil as of Dec 31, 2014, in addition to having secured unbilled sales of RM2.7bil, which places it in a very good position to deliver sustainable performance in 2015.

“Although the property market is expected to remain challenging in 2015, Tropicana believes it has the right product mix, such as landed properties and integrated developments in good locations with great accessibility and attractive pricing that would continue to appeal to buyers,” it said. - By The Star