IWCity sees positive prospects despite setback in Bandar Malaysia

KUALA LUMPUR (May 25): Iskandar Waterfront City Bhd (IWC) said it is positive on prospects ahead for the group amid a challenging economic backdrop.

“IWC has attractive tracts of waterfront land with developments that are progressing well. A prime example of this is our joint venture with the Greenland Group to develop 128 acres of prime waterfront land in Johor fronting Singapore," IWC chairman Datuk Ayub Mion in a statement today.

"The sales gallery was launched end-2016 and the first retail units will be launched soon," he added.

Apart from this, Ayub pointed out that IWC had on May 5 entered into a merger agreement with its holding company, Iskandar Waterfront Holdings Sdn Bhd (IWH).

Subject to shareholder approval and all other regulatory approvals, this will see IWH consolidating the group’s land bank and assuming the listing status of IWC, to establish one of the largest listed strategic master property developers on Bursa Malaysia.

The group suffered a setback recently after TRX City Sdn Bhd, a wholly-owned subsidiary of the Ministry of Finance, decided to scrap the share sale agreement of a 60% stake in Bandar Malaysia Sdn Bhd to a 60-40 consortium between IWH and China Railway Engineering Corp. The Bandar Malaysia project was considered the crown jewel of the IWH-IWC merger exercise.

Earlier, all nine resolutions tabled at IWC’s annual general meeting in Johor were passed by shareholders.

IWC shares ended the morning session up 3 sen or 1.71% at RM1.78 today, with 9.5 million shares done. Its market capitalisation stood at RM1.46 billion. The stock has been trading in a 52-week range of 79 sen to RM3.29. — theedgemarkets.com

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