Origin Property to buy land for 2014

Origin Property Co has budgeted Bt300 million this year to buy land for developing residential projects in 2014 as part of its plan to boost revenue growth to 20 per cent a year.

The sources of funds will be internal cash flow and bank borrowing, managing director Peerapong Jaroon-ek told The Nation.

The company wants to list on the Stock Exchange of Thailand in the last quarter of next year, so it has to develop residential projects to support its business in the long run.

Origin Property was established in 2009 with registered capital of Bt300 million and paid-up capital of Bt225 million by the Jaroon-ek family, which has built serviced apartments under the European Place brand.

The company has eight condo projects on its plate - four that were brought to the market from 2011-12 and four that entered the market last month.

"We plan to launch seven condo projects in Greater Bangkok worth Bt3.9 billion. Four of them have already been launched and the next three will be launched in the second half of this year," he said.

The company targets presales of Bt2.4 billion and revenue of between Bt400 million and Bt500 million this year, at least double its revenue of Bt200 million last year.

The company will enjoy high revenue growth this year after the transfers of two condo projects, Kensington and Notting Hill, to customers, Peerapong said.

"We believe that we can deliver our condo projects to our customers on time when we manage our construction and labour by signing long-term contracts with our contractors and also adjusting construction costs for our suppliers on average 5-10 per cent a year. This helps our suppliers to continue to do business with us," he said.

Origin Property focuses on low-rise condos with only eight storeys at prices not over Bt2 million per unit. Three of its four existing projects have already sold out and the last one is 90 per cent sold in terms of project value.