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Developer Hemaraj expects 10-15% growth

Thursday, 24 July 2008

The Nation July 23, 2008 Hemaraj Land and Development, a leading industrial-estate developer, expects revenue growth of 10 to 15 per cent this year, driven by manufacturing expansion in several sectors. President and CEO David R Nardone said yesterday that the company was in talks with companies in the automobile and electronics industries to purchase sites in Hemaraj's industrial estate in Rayong. He said negotiations were going well. "More than 50 per cent of our clients are in the automobile industry. The government is encouraging companies to expand into new areas such as eco-cars and we expect our business to grow in line with the auto industry," he said. Nardone said Tata Motor was still negotiating to purchase land in the Hemaraj Eastern Seaboard Industrial Estate in order to invest in an eco-car project. In April, Tata Motors won tax privileges from the Board of Investment for the project. Earlier this year, Hemaraj signed a land-purchase deal with Suzuki Motor for a 412-rai plot at the estate. Nardone added that the company had sold sites in its industrial estates totalling 1,200 rai in the first half of the year, compared to its sales target of 1,500 rai. Hemaraj will revise its land-sales target next month after the company announces its second-quarter operating results. "Although sales from the industrial-estate business are still good, revenue from the property sector as a whole has not been good because of sluggish sales of a condominium development. We may adjust the price of the remaining units in The Park development in order to close the project," he said. The company yesterday signed a land-purchase contract with Danieli Far East, a designer and manufacturer of equipment for the steel industry, for an additional 121 rai in the Eastern Seaboard Industrial Estate. However, Nardone declined to disclose the contract value. Asia Plus Securities said in a research note that Hemaraj's land sales could exceed 1,300 rai this year due to expansion in the automobile industry, which is a major part of the company's customer base. Asia Plus revised upward Hemaraj's net profit forecast to Bt1.48 billion, which would represent 27-per-cent growth from last year.

 

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