LCTH Corp Bhd shareholders can expect a 12 sen windfall for every share held from the sale of the company’s properties in Johor Baru to private real estate fund Mapletree MIF Malaysia 2 Sdn Bhd for RM80mil.
Executive director Lim Shook Kong said the main board company also expected a double-digit growth in turnover for calendar 2007.
The manufacturer of plastics-based moulds and products also planned to penetrate Vietnam and possibly India, he said after signing the sale and purchase agreement with Mapletree here.
LCTH Corp would be selling the properties via subsidiary Classic Advantage Sdn Bhd to Mapletree MIF, a nominee of Singapore’s Mapletree Industrial Fund Management Pte Ltd.
From left: LCTH executive director Frankie H. Y. Ching, LCTH chairman Datuk Mohammad Feisol Hassan and Phua Kok Kim
Lim said the company would be distributing RM72mil of the sale proceeds to shareholders and use the balance RM8mil for working capital.
The money would be derived from the sale of a parcel of land and six blocks of factories and one office block, as well as mechanical equipment.
The capital repayment would be in addition to the annual dividend payout, he said.
“As long as there are sufficient funds to take care of our capital expenditure and overheads, any surplus funds will be given out as dividends for shareholders,†Lim said.
The company, he said, was still on target to achieving a double-digit growth in turnover for 2007 while net profit would increase to RM30mil to RM32mil.
LCTH Corp posted a slightly higher pre-tax profit of RM16.98mil for the six months ended June 30, compared with RM16.35mil in same period last year. Turnover rose to RM186.51mil from RM143.5mil before.
On plans to venture abroad, Lim said LCTH Corp might go into Vietnam, specifically Ho Chi Minh City, next year.
LCTH Corp has also been invited by customers such as Flextronics and Solectron to venture into Hyderabad, Bangalore and Chennai in India, he said.
“(For now) I think Vietnam is a better bet. The market is growing and labour cost is cheap. In India, labour costs are coming up very fast,†he added.
Meanwhile, Mapletree Investments Pvt Ltd (MILF) is eyeing more industrial real estates in Malaysia for acquisition purposes, executive vice-president for capital management Phua Kok Kim said.
MILF was scouting around for viable acquisitions in Johor, Kuala Lumpur, Penang and Malacca, he said.
