SP Setia tops Singapore property bid

Datuk Khor Chap Jen, President and CEO of S P Setia Bhd.

Developer said to be highest bidder for Toh Tuck Road project

PETALING JAYA: SP Setia Bhd is said to be the highest bidder for a residential project in Toh Tuck Road in Singapore with an estimated bid of S$265mil (RM837.66mil).

According to a report by Singapore’s Business Times, the property developer was among 24 bidders for the tender of the 18,721.4-sq m plot, which is located in a suburban area near Bukit Timah. The site is said to be able to yield a maximum gross floor area of 26,210 sq m or about 325 units.

The total number of bidders was disclosed by the Urban Redevelopment Authority at the tender’s close on Tuesday.

SP Setia’s bid is said to be the highest at S$265mil, which translates to about S$939 per square foot per plot ratio (psf ppr). This, in turn, exceeds initial analyst expectations of around eight to 16 bidders, with the highest bid expected to be no more than S$750 psf ppr.

The group clarified the status of the bid in a stock exchange filing yesterday.

“We wish to announce that SP Setia International Pte Ltd, a wholly owned subsidiary, did submit a bid, but has yet to receive the official notification regarding the final result of the tender award,” it said.

A detailed announcement will be made to Bursa Malaysia upon receipt of the notification of the final result of the tender award, it added.

According to the news report, the bids submitted by SP Setia’s closest competitors are in a similar range of between S$250mil and S$260mil.

In second place is said to be SingHaiyi Investments Pte Ltd with a S$260.2mil (S$922 psf ppr) bid and Centrex Developments with a S$250.9mil (S$889 psf ppr) bid.

While primarily known for its overseas development in Australia and the United Kingdom, S P Setia’s foray into Singapore has been hinted at in the past.

Back in February, the group’s president and chief executive officer Datuk Khor Chap Jen (pic) was quoted as saying that the group intended to look for potential development sites in Singapore, as the Government may consider loosening some of the restrictive measures in its property market.

Malaysian property developers have made a splash in Singapore before by outbidding stiff competition for a piece of prime land on the island.

For example, last year, IOI Properties Group Bhd submitted a record bid of S$2.57bil (RM7.7bil) for a plot of land in Marina Bay.

Property projects developed by Malaysian firms in Singapore tend to be in the luxury or high-end segment.

Among the prominent developments are Sunway Property’s Avant Parc in Sembawang, Selangor Dredging Bhd’s upcoming 1177 Serangoon Road, and Gamuda Land’s GEM Residences in Toa Payoh.

SP Setia’s shares closed unchanged at RM3.50 yesterday on a turnover of 3.6 million shares. To date, the stock has gained 11%.