SDB plans projects with RM1.45b GDV next year
KUALA LUMPUR: Selangor Dredging Bhd (SDB) plans to launch several projects with a total gross development value (GDV) of RM1.45 billion in Malaysia and Singapore next year.
The projects comprised the third phase of the SqWhere serviced apartment and retail offices development in Kota Damansara and residential projects in Serangoon Road and Draycott Park in Singapore.
Its managing director, Teh Lip Kim, said the company was focusing on selling existing units and the launch of projects in Singapore early next year.
“We know that property prices in Singapore have bottomed out and are in the midst of an upswing, so we will be focusing our efforts in the country over the next six to 12 months,” she said at SDB’s annual general meeting and extraordinary general meeting (EGM), here, yesterday.
At the EGM, the company also obtained shareholders’ approval to dispose of its headquarters, Wisma Selangor Dredging.
“We want to unlock the value of our assets in Malaysia. The proceeds will be used to reduce our bank borrowings and that will also give us additional funds for our working capital, while simultaneously providing us with financial flexibility,” she said.
On June 20, SDB signed a conditional sale and purchase agreement with Golden Realty Sdn Bhd for the disposal of the building for RM480 million.
Teh said the decision to enter the mining industry was based on the currency exchange.
“We wanted to be involved in an activity where the cost is in ringgit but the sale in US dollar.”
Earlier this year, SDB acquired a 20 per cent equity interest in Webcon Mining Sdn Bhd, a company that was given the rights to mine and sell iron ore in Bukit Besi, Terengganu.
Teh said the mining lease was for 15 years and it came with a production guarantee of six million tonnes of iron ore.
“We had conducted a trial run, and we are expecting some revenue from it beginning next year,” she said.