Ireka’s associate firm to dispose of assets worth US$180 mln

KUALA LUMPUR: Ireka Corp Bhd’s 23 per cent-owned associate company, Aseana Properties Ltd, plans to dispose of all of its properties, currently worth US$180 million (RM3.92 per dollar), in stages.

Its group deputy managing director, Monica Lai Voon Huey, said Aseana Properties was in the midst of a divestment phase in order to generate returns for its shareholders and parent company.

“Aseana is in a divestment mode and the company wants to dispose of its completed projects, and some of the operating properties have achieved positive cash flow,” she said, adding that Aseana owned five properties in Kuala Lumpur, three in Sandakan, two in Negeri Sembilan and a hospital in Ho Chi Minh, Vietnam.

She told reporters this after the signing of a memorandum of understanding (MoU) by Ireka, China’s CRRC Urban Traffic Co Ltd and STO Express Co Ltd here yesterday.

UndertheMoU,thethreeparties would establish a formal and exclusive working relationship under the urban transportation and logistics segments and focus on investment and development of warehouses and distribution centres, which would support STO’s expansion plan in Malaysia and Southeast Asia.

Ireka group managing director, Datuk Lai Voon Hon, said the company was also in the midst of identifying potential areas in the Klang Valley with the view of developing facilities for the logistics segment.

On the contributions from the new segments, he said, the urban transportation was a high growth segment, adding that it was expected to contribute significantly to the company’s profits in the next three years.

“Construction is our core business and currently accounts for 80 per cent to 90 per cent of the company’s profit while the rest are from real estate and technologies. We are striving to achieve a more balanced contribution, which would be 50 per cent from construction.

“This could be achieved in the next two years but after that it would be different, especially after we include the contribution from the urban transportation segment,” he said.

He said Ireka’s foray into urban transportation solutions was timely as Malaysia has set a 40 per cent public transportation modal share target by 2030.