Developer aims for 15% growth
Sansiri Plc, a developer targeting the upper-middle-class residential market, expects to maintain its profits on par with last year despite the political uncertainty and sluggish demand that other property firms have witnessed.
"Still, we foresee lower margins next year, when raw-material prices are likely to rise, while it is always difficult to raise home prices," president Srettha Thavisin said last week. Srettha insisted during an interview that housing demand remained strong, despite the political uncertainties and economic problems that had encouraged a number of buyers to put their purchase decisions on hold. He also hopes that as political conflicts are cleared customers straddling the fence will decide to go ahead and buy. "Demand remains strong, but we will have to work harder to reach them," he said, adding that brand awareness was the key to drawing buyers under these circumstances. The company is willing to cut its margins and also has allocated a big budget for advertising and other activities. Recently, Sansiri revised its sales target for the entire year from Bt14 billion to Bt20 billion after posting Bt12 billion for the first half. The sales upgrade is based on investing in 20 new projects worth Bt18 billion this year, instead of the earlier projection of 16 projects worth Bt16.4 billion. Srettha is confident that Sansiri is now the No-1 brand in the upper-middle-income condominium market and in the single-family home market, where each unit is priced above Bt10 million. Srettha also claims that it is either No 1 or No 2 in the town-house market. The company recently launched two projects, a single-family home estate called Baan Prompat on Ratchapruek-Chaeng Wattana Road and a duplex project in the Ram Indra area. Srettha said that despite uncertainties that might lead to lower sales among other developers, Sansiri would go ahead with new investment projects and launch more projects next year. He said the purchasing-power outlook should be clearer at the end of this year when corporate bonus payments were announced. "I'm a slave of the capital market. I'm committed to 15-per-cent profit growth per annum," he said. Last year, the company enjoyed a net profit of Bt903.58 million on Bt10.52 billion in revenue.
Sasithorn Ongdee The Nation
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