KUALA LUMPUR – Despite a spike in the prices of construction materials, Kedah-based property developer Bina Darulaman Bhd (BDB) has assured that their house prices will remain the same for at least the next six months.
BDB’s acting president and group chief executive officer Mohd Iskandar Dzulkarnain Ramli said their focus was on cost optimisation which includes hedging and making early orders of the materials in order to reduce the pressure of spiralling prices.
“Personally, I hope that Budget 2023 will provide some incentives for the construction sector in terms of complying costs to provide for subsidies and incentives to support the industry.
“This is especially for developers who offer affordable housing,” said Iskandar at a press conference to announce BDB’s second quarter financial results today.
Among the affordable housing offered by BDB is the Perbandaran Darulaman Legenda in Sg Petani, Kedah.
Its development is jointly undertaken with LPB Development Sdn Bhd involving a gross development value (GDV) of RM593 million with residences priced between RM150,000 and RM280,000.
Meanwhile, the group is planning to diversify into the agriculture, renewable energy and telecommunications sectors to capitalise on the resilience of these sectors.
“The pandemic in 2020 and 2021 demonstrated that our core business was highly vulnerable to lockdowns and movement control orders.
“The pandemic also demonstrated that certain sectors remained resilient throughout the pandemic phase, namely food production (agriculture), power (renewable energy) and telecommunications,” said Iskandar, adding that BDB is expected to announce an update on its plans by next year.
“Looking ahead, the group will be undertaking studies to identify and determine the feasibility of adding these business sectors to its portfolio to further improve resilience and future-proof revenue and profitability.”
Iskandar also expects business to pick up in the third and fourth quarters of this year, contributed hugely by its property sector.
“The leisure business which involves our golf resort and theme park is also recording a stable income,” he said.
On whether the group’s plans will be affected in the event there is a change in government following the outcome of the 15th general election, Iskandar said their plans will continue on the baseline.
“We will tweak our plans as we go along,” he added. – The Vibes, September 22, 2022
