Amata boosts land prices by 25%
By Nora Chapman on Aug 30, 2012 in Property News
Amata Corporation this month raised land prices by 25 per cent in its industrial estates to reflect the new property assessments and to keep its gross margin at 30-40 per cent.
Amata is facing a challenge after achieving a net profit of Bt389.78 million for the first six months, far behind its full-year target of Bt1.2 billion.
However, Viboon Kromadit, chief operating officer, is confident his company can catch up after raising the price per square wah on August 1 to Bt15,000 (Bt3,750 per square metre) from Bt12,000.
The first-half bottom line was hit by the new accounting under the International Financial Reporting Standards, in which a sale is recognised as revenue only after the land is transferred.
The company expects to realise as revenue 30 per cent of its backlog.
Amata was promoting its eight funds to investors attending Thailand Focus 2012.
Foreign investors showed interest in Amata's property funds, but still had questions about natural disasters. "We insisted that our industrial estates can handle both floods and droughts well," Viboon said.
The company's residential project in Amata City worth Bt800 million will be completed in 2015. The project, developed by Thai-Chinese Rayong Industrial Realty Development, a subsidiary, and a Chinese partner, is expected to deliver an internal rate of return of 8.25 per cent, he said.
Source : The Nation 30 August 2012