KUALA LUMPUR (March 5): Paramount Corp Bhd said on Tuesday it aims to sell RM1.4 billion worth of properties in the financial year ending Dec 31, 2024 (FY2024), as the company ramps up launches.
The real estate developer plans to launch projects worth RM2.4 billion in gross development value this year, including some delayed projects, group chief executive officer Jeffrey Chew Sun Teong said at an earnings briefing. Some of the projects were stalled in 2023, due to delays in obtaining the necessary approvals, Chew noted.
“We are launching a lot more than last year. The reason is not because we are crazy, but RM700 million [worth of properties] was delayed [last year],” he said.
Last year, Paramount sold properties worth RM1.12 billion, a record high, with products launched worth RM886 million, compared with RM1.21 billion in 2022.
Paramount booked a 37.6% jump in net profit to RM82.84 million for FY2023, from RM60.2 million for FY2022, as revenue rose 19.44% to RM1.01 billion from RM847.46 million, mainly fuelled by improvements in all its business segments, namely property, co-working, investment and others.
“We will become more efficient in terms of margins, which will also increase our ROE (return on equity),” he said. “We have been working hard to improve this.”
Paramount’s ROE rose to 5.7% in FY2023, from 4.2% in FY2022 and 2% in FY2021.
Chew flagged rising costs following an increase in the sales and service tax to 8% effective last Friday, and the company may consider raising prices to protect its margins.
The higher rate is ‘neutral from the property developer perspective’, though it may affect ‘other areas’, and the cost increases may trickle into later projects, Chew said. “For any industry, if you find that your cost has gone up, you tend to pass this cost to someone else as a business, and generally, you could create an inflation issue overall.”
