Paramount still keen on foreign markets
SHAH ALAM: Property developer Paramount Corp Bhd remains committed to overseas property investment amid market uncertainty and Eco World International Bhd 's (EWI) plans to re-enter the Malaysian property scene.
In May 2024, Paramount became a major shareholder of EWI after acquiring a 21.54% stake in the international property developer for a cash consideration of RM170.61mil.
Loss-making EWI focuses on international property development, mainly in Britain and Australia, but had recently announced plans to venture into the local market.
Group chief executive officer Jeffrey Chew said EWI's decision to tap into the local market does not divert Paramount's objective of diversifying its earnings base and expanding property development activity overseas.
'I think our objective has always been to keep some assets outside of Malaysia. The fact that EWI has actually decided to launch in Malaysia does not mean that they are going to get rid of all the overseas projects.
'In a way, it still does meet our objective and original intonation of having assets outside of Malaysia,' he told the media during a briefing after Paramount's 55th AGM, yesterday.
Chew noted that if EWI were to launch projects locally, revenue recognition would likely be faster compared to markets such as Britain or Australia.
He said Paramount sees long-term value in maintaining its investment in EWI, maintaining a positive outlook over the next few years.
On Paramount's broader overseas investment strategy, Chew said that the group tries to 'not put all its eggs in one basket' and continues to explore new opportunities.
He acknowledged that earlier projects, including a venture in Bangkok, had underperformed due to post-pandemic market conditions.
As a result, Paramount is now focusing on lower-risk, structured international investments that offer fixed returns and defined exit mechanisms.
To date, Paramount has invested in six international property projects across Australia, Britain and the United States.
In line with its updated investment approach, the group also revised its international profit contribution target to 20%, down from the earlier goal of 30%.
He said the company was also working to improve internal performance metrics.
'We've grown our return on equity (ROE) from just over 2% a few years ago to 7.2% today, one of the highest in the domestic property sector. Our aim is to reach double-digit ROE in the next few years by improving operational efficiency, shortening development cycles and managing land acquisition more strategically,' he added.
Looking ahead, Paramount remains confident in its ability to achieve its sales target of RM1.5bil, supported by the robust demand in the property market, specifically for residential property.
Paramount posted a net profit of RM14.43mil or a basic earnings per share of 2.32 sen for the first quarter of this year (1Q25).
This was higher from the RM7.71mil or 1.24 sen in the same quarter of the preceding year.
Revenue also increased from RM172.61mil to RM217.84mil.
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