Preuksa turns eyes to Asia

The forecast follows the com-pany's achievement in seizing leadership of Thailand's residential market. Preuksa jumped from third place in 2008 to become market leader last year when it announced presales worth Bt22.8 billion and combined revenue of Bt19 billion.

The former market leader, Land & Houses, had held the top spot since the 1997 Asian financial crisis.

Thongma said the company planned to maintain its market leadership by achieving presales of Bt29 billion and combined revenue of Bt24 billion this year.

Preuksa will transfer Bt4 billion worth of finished properties to customers in the first quarter before the government's tax incentives for the property industry expire on March 28. This is part of the company's backlog of projects that are sold but still under construction. It will hand over finished properties worth Bt9.7 billion from its backlog this year, enabling the company to achieve its revenue target and boosting presales to Bt29 billion, he said.

The company plans to spend Bt20.4 billion this year. Of that, Bt6.5 billion is earmarked for acquiring land on which to develop 48 new residential projects this year. Construction of the new projects will cost another Bt12.6 billion, and the remaining Bt1 billion will be spent on building a second prefabrication plant on Rama II Road.

The investment budget will come from the company's cash flow, said chief financial officer Somboon Wasinchutchawal.

Meanwhile, construction will begin on the company's projects in India and Vietnam, and these are expected to be generating income by year-end. Preuksa also plans to invest about US$10 million (Bt329 million) in a project in Maldives this year.

However, it has stepped back from projects in China, because of high levels of speculation in that country's property market, said director and chief operating officer Prasert Taedullayasatit.

He said this year's business strategy would involve building new brands to cover the luxury market, with residential projects offering units priced between Bt6 million and Bt10 million.

"We've set aside a marketing budget of Bt600 million to Bt700 million to build our brands this year," he said.