KUALA LUMPUR (Oct 25): Berjaya Assets Bhd (BAssets), which owns the Berjaya Times Square (BTS) mall along Jalan Imbi, said on Tuesday (Oct 25) BTS mall will continue building new business relations locally and abroad to increase occupancy rates of the shopping cum leisure mall with a gross built-up area of 7.5 million square feet at a time when the operating landscape is expected to remain challenging.

According to BAssets' latest annual report, which was filed with Bursa Malaysia on Tuesday (Oct 25), Berjaya Times Square Sdn Bhd (BTSSB), the principal subsidiary of BAssets, owns and manages the BTS mall.

A Kuala Lumpur landmark, BTS mall, which was built on an estimated 10-acre (about 4ha) land, comprises a 12-level shopping mall, two 46-storey towers of service suites and hotel, two levels of hotel floors, three levels of office floors, five levels of basement and 10 floors of annexed car parks, according to BAssets.

"Entering its 19th year of operations, BTS mall had an occupancy rate of 86% as at June 30, 2022.

"The 12-level stratified shopping mall, which measures approximately 3.5 million square feet, houses (among others) more than 1,000 units of strategically selected retail shops and food and beverage outlets," BAssets said.

BAssets however did not specify its targeted occupancy rate for BTS Mall.

BAssets said that while the operating landscape is expected to remain challenging, the hospitality and entertainment industries are likely to recover in its financial year ending June 30, 2023 (FY2023).

According to BAssets, BTS Mall will continue to strengthen business relations with existing tenants by providing them with marketing support comprising digital and on-ground campaigns.

BAssets said BTS Mall will regularly seek to enhance and improve its facilities in order to provide the best family entertainment experience to customers and to increase tenant profitability.

Looking back, BAssets chairman Tunku Tun Aminah Sultan Ibrahim Ismail said in a statement in the company's annual report that in light of the Covid-19 pandemic during FY2022, BTS Mall had actively reduced and deferred non-essential operational and capital spending to contain costs and conserve cash.

In order to contain the infection of Covid-19, which began in early 2020, Tunku Tun Aminah said BTS Mall implemented stringent standard operating procedures.

"To grow, thrive and stay relevant in a post-pandemic world, swift digital transformation of marketing strategies is vital. With physical contact kept to a minimum, digital marketing proves to be a lifeline to reach out and stay connected with customers.

"To this end, BTS Mall has continually invested in building its in-house digital [capabilities,] and [its] production team [is] capable of transforming digital data into actionable insights and developing relevant engaging content that enables the business to swiftly respond to consumer sentiments. The in-house team provides digital and production support to all tenants of BTS Mall," Tunku Tun Aminah said.

Looking ahead, she said the compounding effect from the Covid-19 pandemic, Russia-Ukraine war and pandemic-driven lockdowns in China has magnified the slowdown of the global economy, contributed to higher inflation and tighter financial conditions that may collectively lead to an "arduous year (FY2023) ahead".

"The domestic (Malaysian) economy is anticipated to recover at a moderate pace going forward amidst global headwinds and rising inflationary pressures," she said.

Tunku Tun Aminah said BAssets' FY2023 operating performance is envisaged to be satisfactory given the prevailing economic conditions and financial outlook.

At 5pm on Tuesday, BAssets' share price closed unchanged at 29 sen for a market value of about RM742.4 million.

BAssets has 2.56 billion outstanding shares, according to its annual report.