KUALA LUMPUR: The master developer of i-City Ultrapolis, I-Bhd, said the group is on track to achieve the RM500 million yearly revenue contribution from its property unit by 2018.
Its deputy chairman Datuk Eu Hong Chew said the property development segment contributed RM201 million to the group’s revenue in 2014 compared to RM95 million in 2013.
“We expect to sustain the double-digit growth this year as sales of our property development segment in the firsthalf (1H) of this year is 30% higher compared to the 1H of 2014,” he said.
He said a majority of the sales recorded in the first six months of 2015 came from the i-City project and this reflected the project’s potential.
“The sales growth is part of its business plan to be a RM3 billion group,” he said.
Besides higher contribution from the property development unit, he said I-Bhd expects its property portfolio to reach RM1 billion by 2018 while the revenue from the leisure unit to double from almost RM50 million recorded last year.
For the first-quarter (1Q) ended March 31, 2015, I-Bhd’s net profit rose 67.7% to RM10.2 million compared to RM6.1 million recorded a year earlier on the back of RM75.3 million revenue.
He said the group also recently unveiled its RM3 billion investment plan for a series of integration tourism related products at its 72-acre freehold i-City Ultrapolis situated along the Federal Highway.
The company, Eu said, aims to attract over 30 million visitors a year by 2020.
The integrated tourism related products comprise a leisure park, three hotels including the Best Western i-City Hotel and the planned four-star hotel by Hilton, Cent ralPlaza@ i- Cit y super regional mall with a riverfront food and beverage area, a convention and performing arts centre as well as a medical tourism project.
He said the group had invested RM70 million in its leisure park which draws about 90,000 visitors a week.
The company also plans to further invest up to RM100 million by 2018.
On the joint development of CentralPlaza@ i-City with the Central Pattana Group, he said work is expected to start in the 4Q of this year.
“Furthermore, the mall will be complimented by a riverfront food and beverage development, deriving from the concept of the famous Clarke Quay in Singapore, to provide shoppers a great shopping and dining experience by the river,” Eu said.
He said a state-of-the-art convention and performing arts centre will also be built next to the mall.
As i-City is already an MSC Malaysia Cybercentre, he said the group is looking to invest in a robotic surgery centre which can revolutionise delivery of health services in Malaysia.
Eu said the RM3 billion tourism related investment plan will ensure high occupancy for the various properties under its investment property portfolio.
