KUALA LUMPUR (Dec 16): S P Setia Foundation hosted an educational outing for 90 primary school students on Dec 13, 2022.

This is part of the foundation’s campaign to promote the spirit of unity amongst the youth while promoting creativity beyond the classroom.

The 90 students were from SK Semenyih, SJK(C) Kampung Baru Semenyih and SJK(T) Ladang Rinching which are schools adopted under S P Setia Foundation’s Setia Caring School Programme, as well as SK(Asli) Bukit Tampoi, Dengkil.

The outing started off with the children being treated to a local animation movie Mechamato, followed by an educational play session at Toy8 Playground, an experiential playground focused on early intervention for children.

“Through the S P Setia Foundation, we hope to play a role in shaping them to be future leaders who know that within hardship, they live in a country whose people are kind, who care about their wellbeing regardless of skin colour or social status, who gives them opportunities to nurture their intelligence, skills and talents to grow up to be positive contributors to this nation’s advancement and development,” said S P Setia Foundation chairman Datuk Zuraidah Atan who is also a director of S P Setia Bhd.

“The outing today was a great experience for the students as the activities were exciting and stimulating which helped enhance their skills. The movie Mechamato was very inspiring which motivated the students to be innovative.

“Additionally, the play session at Toy8 allowed them to learn different skills from a range of activities such as building a robot, top and yoyo,” said principal of SJK(T) Ladang Rinching, Puan Uma Perumal.

S P Setia Berhad has appointed Dato’ Zuraidah Binti Atan as the chairman of S P Setia Foundation effective 1 December 2022 succeeding the late Tan Sri Dr Wan Mohd Zahid Mohd Noordin.

Dato’ Zuraidah is a veteran of corporate social responsibility activities and is known as someone with a big heart and a strong passion for social welfare.

As the chairman, Dato’ Zuraidah will be helming the Group’s vision to create a positive impact among the country’s communities, and foster national integration and unity towards a more caring society. Currently, an independent non-executive director of S P Setia, she is also the chairman of the developer’s Audit Committee. With an LLB (Hons) from the University of Buckingham, England, and a Certificate in Legal Practice (Malaysia), she is a member of the Malaysian Bar and a practising lawyer under her own legal firm, Chambers of Zuraidah Atan.

Dato’ Zuraidah’s present principal appointments include her position as the chairman of the International Association of Traffic and Safety Sciences (IATSS) Forum (Japan) National Committee in Malaysia, which is an annual ASEAN-Japan Leadership Training programme for young professionals sent to Suzuka City, Japan. She is also the honorary advisor of the National Cancer Society of Malaysia.

KUALA LUMPUR (Dec 1): S P Setia Bhd on Thursday (Dec 1) announced the appointment of Annuar Marzuki Abdul Aziz (pictured) as its new chief financial officer (CFO) effective Dec 1.

He replaced Datuk Yuslina Mohd Yunus, 55, who had held the post as acting CFO since May 9.

Prior to holding the CFO position at S P Setia, Annuar Marzuki, 52, was CFO and chief investment officer of KLCC Property Holdings Bhd.

He also had stints as UEM Group Bhd group CFO from September 2009 to August 2013 and PLUS Expressway Bhd CFO between June 2006 and August 2009.

S P Setia’s net profit surged more than six times to RM70.18 million in the third quarter ended Sept 30, 2022 (3QFY2022) from RM11.01 million in 3QFY2021, underpinned by higher contribution from its property development business.

Group revenue grew 44.8% to RM860.94 million from RM594.55 million.

The property developer secured total sales of RM2.7 billion in the cumulative nine months ended Sept 30, 2022, mainly from local projects, which contributed RM2.34 billion or about 87% of total sales. The balance RM359 million came from international projects.

S P Setia’s share price settled half a sen or 0.72% higher at 70 sen on Thursday, bringing the group a market capitalisation of RM2.83 billion.

KUALA LUMPUR: S P Setia Bhd could post a stronger set of fourth-quarter (4Q) results, based on the completion of some of its projects.

This is despite the generally cautious outlook for the property sector in the face of rising interest rates.

According to CGS-CIMB Research, S P Setia’s fourth quarter results are expected to come in stronger with the handover of its Australian projects, Sapphire by the Gardens and UNO Melbourne.

“We believe the group is on track to achieve its sales target for the financial year 2022, as the management expects new property sales in the second-half, given its good product mix that is skewed towards landed homes,” the research house said.

CGS-CIMB Research noted that as of the end of September 2022, S P Setia’s total unbilled sales stood at RM8.4bil, compared with RM9.8bil as at the end of September 2021.

“To recap, the group’s planned launches in the financial year 2022 amount to RM4.04bil gross development value (GDV).

“We expect 2022 to 2024’s net gearing to improve on the back of international project handovers and the potential sale of non-strategic land in the near term,” CGS-CIMB Research said.

Hence, Kenanga Research expects S P Setia’s 4Q net profit to be strong at RM135mil once the handover of Sapphire Melbourne is completed in October 2022. Sapphire Melbourne has a GDV of RM1.2bil, it said.

“The contribution from Sapphire will spill over to the financial year 2023 on gradual handovers, while UNO Melbourne, which has a RM1.5bil GDV will also start to contribute upon its completion in 2023.

The research house said it is cutting S P Setia’s financial year 2022 and 2023’s net profit forecasts by 36% and 21%, respectively.

“We remain cautious on S P Setia as the prospects of the property sector seem to be deteriorating further, clouded by eroding affordability due to rising interest rates and elevated input costs, and its near-term performance will continue to be weighed down by high debt servicing obligations and a high-cost structure,” Kenanga Research said.

Kenanga Research said it is reducing its target price to 38 sen from 58 sen after raising its revised net asset value discount to 90% to reflect its elevated debt levels as it has the highest net gearing within its coverage.

The research house also noted that this might potentially lead to liquidity issues in a weaker market environment moving forward.

Meanwhile, UOB Kay Hian (UOBKH) Research is more positive and upgraded S P Setia to a “buy” given its recent share price weakness.

“However, we lower our target price to 82 sen in tandem with the earnings adjustment.

“Our target price is based on a 78% discount to its revised net asset values, which implies 0.2 times 2023’s price to book value,” it said.

“We believe its near-term earnings recovery has been fairly priced in at its current valuation, with a lack of catalysts in 2022 and an interest rate hike as the potential sentiment dampener for the sector,” UOBKH Research added.