SP Setia sets five-year plan

KUALA LUMPUR: Renowned developer SP Setia Bhd unveiled a five-year plan with a theme “Move to Change” to firmly position itself locally and abroad. Group managing director Tan Sri Liew Kee Sin (pix) said the plan was mooted to strengthen the SP Setia brand name and move the company aggresively in the highend property market segment.



Speaking to the media after the company’s 33rd AGM at the Kuala Lumpur Golf and Country Club yesterday, Liew said the company is also geared to achieve record sales revenue of RM1.8 billion from new and existing projects this year.

“SP Setia is currently well known for its Setia Homes brand comprising terraced houses that make up 80% of our products, but by 2012, we wish to reduce it to 30% and concentrate fully on making the ‘SP Setia Eco’ brand the main driver of the company,” said Liew. Future projects are expected to be modelled after SP Setia’s award winning brand of Eco-themed developments (Eco is Setia’s corporate acronym for “environment”, “community” and “organisation”).

“We are going to concentrate on integrated development, overseas markets, bungalows and high-rise condominiums in an effort to push the Setia Eco brand,” Liew added.

He said the five-year plan also aims to make SP Setia’s international operations as big as the company’s local operations.

“We are going on an aggressive overseas expansion drive starting in Vietnam. We are also looking at other countries such as Pakistan, Cambodia, India and China, but it depends if we can get the right land at the right price.

“Although we are going out aggressively in Vietnam with our EcoLakes in MyPhuoc project, we make sure we carry out a detailed study on each piece of land before we make a purchase.

“When we went there first [Vietnam], we thought we could build a few hundred houses. But after seeing the market there, we think we should build a few thousand houses now,” said Liew.
According to him, the group is also looking for the right land at the right price in Vietnam and have scheduled projects with a gross development value of more than RM300 million there.

On another note, Liew said rising construction costs are a “headache” but the company is well prepared to face it. “We sell our products at a premium price, 20% higher than our competitors but our buyers are willing to pay the price because they know our brand name. For now, we are concentrating on higher margins, which translate to higher profits,” he said.

Liew described the financial year ended 31 Oct, 2007, as a great year. The group recorded a total sales volume of RM1.2 billion on the back of RM1.1 billion in revenue. Group profit after tax was at an all time high of RM260 million.

SP Setia has a strong local presence in the Klang Valley, Johor and Penang. It is well known for its Setia Eco Park Shah Alam, Setia Eco Gardens and Setia Tropika developments in Johor. It has a current landbank of 4,817 acres and aims to launch a RM1 billion project in Sabah within the next three to six months.

By theSun (by Tim Leonard)