Paramount eyes RM400m land deals in 2025

• “But we are now re-studying whether we could do a whole redevelopment. We will tear down everything and then build a RM900 million GDV project,” Chew said in regards to its newly-acquired Taman U-Thant property.  

KUALA LUMPUR (March 4): Paramount Corp Bhd (KL:PARAMON) is targeting RM400 million worth of land replenishment deals this year to pave the way for new launches in the next five years.

Given the goal to complete property projects with a RM2 billion gross development value (GDV) in the financial year ending Dec 31, 2025 (FY2025), Paramount CEO Jeffrey Chew Sun Teong said the company would need to buy RM400 million worth of land to replenish the realised GDV.

In comparison, the GDV for completed projects in FY2024 was at the same level of RM2.02 billion. The company had a remaining GDV of RM5.5 billion as at end-2024, from its 369.4-acre undeveloped land and unsold units in launched projects.

“We think that if we are going to do RM1.2 billion in revenue this year (FY2025), we have about four years of remaining GDV,” Chew told the press, analysts and bankers during Paramount’s results briefing on Tuesday.

He further shared that Paramount has been in discussions for a few land deals since last year, but these have yet to be concluded. 

Potential RM900m GDV for redevelopment of newly-acquired Taman U-Thant property

Speaking on Paramount’s sole land acquisition in 2024 — the 13,317-sq m leasehold land with a low-rise luxury condominium — Brunsfield Residence — in Taman U-Thant for RM145 million, cash, Chew said the company is contemplating redeveloping the entire property, in contrast to its initial plan of only refurbishing it. 

At RM145 million, Chew noted that the purchase of 93 condominium units of Brunsfield Residence works out to be RM375 per sq ft. As at end-September last year, 44% of the 93 units were tenanted, according to the company’s bourse filing on the property buy.

Chew revealed that Paramount did not directly purchase the property from Prismaworld Embassyview Sdn Bhd, but instead from the seller’s receivers — the custodian of the entity’s assets following liquidation.

A road bump to its redevelopment plans is that before any application can be submitted, Paramount has to wait for the transaction to be completed with approval from the Ministry of Economy’s Economic Planning Unit for asset transfer, according to Chew.

He explained that in property deals conducted directly with a landowner, the buyer can request the landowner’s permission to submit approval requests to authorities before the deal’s completion.

“The plan is that if we cannot get the approval for redevelopment or if there are complaints from residents, we will stick to refurbishment [of the property],” Chew said of its contingency plan.

If Paramount opts for the refurbishment plan, GDV would be pegged at RM282 million, based on prices of RM600 to RM700 per sq ft, which is the current range for properties in that location with built-up sizes of 3,000 to 4,000 sq ft.

“But we are now re-studying whether we could do a whole redevelopment. We will tear down everything and then build a RM900 million GDV project,” he added.

At Tuesday’s market close, shares in Paramount were down one sen or 0.93% lower at RM1.06, valuing the company at RM660.14 million.

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