Business

Saturday July 11, 2009

Sunway declines comment on assets buy


PETALING JAYA: Sunway Holdings Bhd has declined comment on talk that the company is bidding to acquire the local concrete plants, quarries and asphalt factories owned by HeidelbergCement AG.

Executive chairman Tan Sri Cheah Fook Ling would only say the company was not yet sure whether to acquire the factories.

It was reported that Sunway was interested in acquiring these assets when the indicative selling price was US$200mil (RM717.4mil) but might pull out from the bid after the price was raised to US$250mil.

Met after the company EGM yesterday, Cheah said Sunway was trying to reduce its gearing ratio from the current 0.9 times to 0.5 times in two or three years by selling non-core assets and undertaking a proposed private placement.

“We plan to implement the private placement by the fourth quarter,” he said, adding that for the past three years, the company had borrowed money to expand its operations.

Cheah said the outlook for the company this year was much better than last year as its investments in Singapore and China were going to turn in profits.

“We will continue to focus on our main businesses in construction, building materials and manufacturing which have been with us for more than 30 years,” he said.

On the property market outlook, Cheah said buyer confidence might be seen again by the fourth quarter as at this moment, the market was still soft.


SUNWAY : [Stock Watch] [News]

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