IOI Properties Group Expects Property Sales to Recover Post-Pandemic

IOI Properties Group Berhad (IOIPG) today announced its results for Q3 2020 which saw the Group  achieving RM401.4 million in revenue and a profit before interest and taxation of RM137.7 million.  The Group anticipates that its developments in strategic locations around Malaysia with its projects  in the pipeline will continue to draw prospective buyers as the economy gradually improves post Conditional Movement Control Order (CMCO).

In China, economic activities have resumed and in recovery mode after the lockdown due to the  spread of the COVID-19 pandemic. The Group’s recent launch of high-rise condominiums in IOI  Palm City, Xiamen, received favourable response with a take up rate of 80% with profit to be  registered in the coming quarters.

For the nine months in the current year-to-date, IOIPG recorded RM1,505.9 million in revenue and  RM678.8 million in profit before interest and taxation.

With the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic, Malaysia was not spared from implementing the  Movement Control Order (MCO) and this resulted in the disruption of most economic and social activities. Despite such restrictions, sales for the Group in the Klang Valley was not very much  affected with some products moving even faster during the MCO period due to aggressive sales  packages such as the “Stay@Home Online Sales” and the ongoing “Instalment Also Free”. IOIPG has constantly been improving on its digital marketing capabilities and has set up an e Marketplace platform to conduct sale transactions before the implementation of the MCO.

“We will continue to leverage on our digital marketing capabilities, accelerate sales via online platforms  and adopt aggressive sales and marketing strategies with focus on the Group’s mid-price range of properties in Malaysia,” said IOIPG CEO Dato’ Voon Tin Yow.

Throughout the current financial year 2020 (FY20), IOIPG has recorded encouraging sales by leveraging on the Home Ownership Campaign (HOC) together with on-going marketing campaigns  that targeted audiences from both the traditional and digital platforms to create visibility for its developments.

The extension of the HOC to 31 December 2019 continued to stimulate interest in home-ownership  while offering an opportunity for property developers to address the property overhang situation.  With IOIPG’s participation in the HOC, sales picked up and inventory was lowered during this period  as buyers took advantage of the HOC. Investment in property is often viewed as a good hedge against  inflation, hence demand for residential properties is expected to remain resilient in the long-term,  particularly for projects in strategic locations with good transportation infrastructure and close  proximity to an excellent network of amenities and facilities.

The launch of Alanis, one of the Group’s mid-price range of properties in Warisan Puteri Sepang, was met with good response, achieving a take-up rate of 67% to-date. Alanis is targeted at first-time buyers, young couples and extended families with family-friendly facilities. Despite the disruption to construction progress due to the CMCO, the Group is progressively handing over Lavenda 1 and Serene; followed by Alena 1 and Alena 2 in Johor in the subsequent quarter. Meanwhile, the Group’s  launches of villas and high-rise condominiums in Xiamen are expected to continue registering an  increase in sales revenue with the economic activities in China on recovery mode post-lockdown. 

“The remaining FY20 continues to be challenging but the Group is well positioned for the recovery post-CMCO,” said Dato’ Voon.

“The pandemic outbreak is expected to affect the performance of the retail and hospitality segments.  However, the Group is actively adopting a pragmatic tenant retention strategy for occupancy optimisation in anticipation of a less restricted movement environment.”

“Moving forward, we have mid-price range of projects in the pipeline ready to be launched once we have assessed that the market is ready post-CMCO. So far, we have approximately 40 on-going projects and a total development landbank of approximately 10,000 acres,” he added.