KSK Land has big property plans

KUALA LUMPUR: KSK Land Sdn Bhd, the property arm of KSK Group Bhd, is looking for property development opportunities in the Klang Valley, Penang and London in the UK following its foray into the sector last year.
Cash-rich KSK Group's foray into the property sector came after it sold the group core insurance subsidiary, Kurnia Insurans (M) Bhd to AmG Insurance Bhd, for MM1.63 billion on Sept 26, 2012. Using funds from the disposal, it acquired a 3.952-acre piece of land in Jalan Conlay, Kuala Lumpur for RM568 million from Suasana Simfoni Sdn Bhd, kicking off its venture into the property sector.
Last month, it completed the land acquisition and announced plans to build a mixed development comprising luxury residential units and a five-star hotel.
While it is busy fine-tuning building plans and getting approvals to execute the project, KSK Land managing director Joanne Kua said it is building up its landbank.
"We're looking at more landbank in the Klang Valley, Penang and we're open to any good opportunities that come our way, even in Central London…we think that Penang has a lot of opportunities and we're currently focused on those two areas (in Malaysia) at the moment," she told SunBiz in an interview.
Kua said the company has received various offers from land owners but has not entered into any land deals yet as it is still evaluating the offers.
"In London there have been some opportunities, but very preliminary also, just like Penang. Until and unless we see a very good opportunity, we will pursue it but as of now we have not gone into any deals. We're focusing on Central London," she added.
Kua, who spent 10 years studying and working in London, said the group has an affinity with London and understands the different areas of the city.
"London is very hot right now, a lot of Malaysian developers are going in and the market is starting to climb up again.
We have had a lot of people coming to us with opportunities. We know the areas well enough, so we probably can tell from a buyer's perspective what sells and what doesn't sell. It's a natural step for us. But we're cautious and careful in everything that we look at," she said.
Kua said however, that the group is less keen on areas such as Johor, which she says already has a lot of players, and Singapore, where land is scarce and cooling measures on property are in place.
"I won't say we won't completely go into these areas, I think if there's a very good opportunity we'll probably look into it…but for now, we want to focus on Conlay," she said.
"For KSK Land this year we really want to build a strong foundation. First and foremost is the people. So we need to build a very strong dynamic team…Apart from Vincent Tan (KSK Land executive director), we are hiring a bigger team," Kua added.
According to her, it has always been the group's vision to diversify and have two core businesses, and property development has been on the cards for a very long time.
"We have actually always been interested in the industry and we have been watching and monitoring…the property industry has been one that we've always been watching out for just that we never really had a time to sit down, dwell on it, look deeper into it and say this is really what we want to do formally and discuss how we're going to do it.
"In Malaysia, we think the property development industry although it's competitive, has ample room to grow. It's one of those industries where profit margins can also be very good, depending on where's your direction and how you actually run and manage your development."
Kua said the group aims to be a top-tier developer in the next five years, offering quality and unique products with good customer service.
"We want to be a long-term, sustainable developer. We want to create a household brand, a strong platform in property development…what's most important is that we want to be a developer where we provide enhanced values to all our stakeholders, shareholders, investors and buyers," she said.
Kua, who is also group CEO of KSK Group, is one of the daughters of KSK Group founder Tan Sri Kua Sian Kooi and the only one out of four siblings involved in the business.
"I was working in London for a while, then about four years ago I came back and joined the group. In the group I took on the role of group chief operating officer, that's why I was looking into (the general insurance business in) Thailand and Indonesia. At the same time, in Kurnia Malaysia, I was also the chief risk officer. That was my specialisation when I was working in London.
"I was with Deutsche Bank for four years, that was the peak time for investment banking and very quickly the crisis came…after that the markets were a little bit slow and I was thinking of trying a new challenge but it wasn't always the plan to come home and work here," she said.
With encouragement from the elder Kua, she returned to Malaysia and was in charge of the group's business in Thailand and Indonesia, as well as the sale of Kurnia Malaysia, the group's privatisation and now, its diversification into property development.