Charoen Sirivadhanabhakdi, chairman of TCC Group and Thailand’s second-richest individual, speaks at an event in Bangkok, Thailand in April 2017. Photo by Bangkok Post via AFP
Frasers Property Ltd., the developer controlled by Thailand’s 3rd richest man Charoen Sirivadhanabhakdi, has posted surging profit in Singapore and is looking to expand in Chinese cities.
The Singapore-based company reported a net income of SGD135.6 million (US$104 million) for the six months ending March 31, a jump of 3.7 times year-on-year.
Revenue inched up 2.7% to SGD1.59 billion, it revealed in a briefing on Friday.
Singapore’s recovering housing market has been a key driver for Frasers, with profit from residential developments rising 12% in the six-month period, while it plummeted over 40% in China.
But the company is among Singapore developers cautiously re-engaging with China’s market, having jointly acquired a residential plot in Shanghai with local partners in February.
CEO Panote Sirivadhanabhakdi, Charoen’s son and the company’s leader since 2016, expressed confidence in Shanghai but emphasized that the firm is “still cautious” on China.
Land auctions in Shanghai’s center have heated up, and the firm is looking at opportunities in key cities, said Lim Hua Tiong, the Singapore-based company’s chief executive for emerging markets in Asia, as reported by Bloomberg.
“I understand there’s a lot of questions about China but I always say that Shanghai is really different from other parts of China,” he said at an earnings briefing on Friday.
Nearly 90% of Frasers’ shares are owned by Charoen’s Thailand-based family conglomerate TCC Group.
The shares fell as much as 1.2% on Friday but later recovered some losses. The stock has declined about 13% this year, compared to a nearly 1% gain in Singapore’s real estate index.
Charoen, as of Friday, has a net worth of $11.7 billion, ranking third in Thailand behind Dhanin Chearavanont, senior chairman of pork producer Charoen Pokphand Group, and Sarath Ratanavadi, CEO of power producer Gulf Energy Development, according to Forbes.
