KUALA LUMPUR (April 18): Kimlun Corporation Bhd has bagged a construction contract worth RM150 million for a serviced apartment development project in Johor Bahru.

In a bourse filing on Thursday, Kimlun said its wholly-owned subsidiary Kimlun Sdn Bhd received the award as the main contractor for the Aliva Mount Austin residential project from Astaka Development Sdn Bhd, a subsidiary of Singapore-listed Astaka Holdings Limited.

“The construction work is expected to be completed in the fourth quarter of 2026,” it said.

In a separate statement, Astaka said the project, which sees an estimated gross development value (GDV) of RM254 million, has achieved a 70% take-up rate since its commercial launch in December last year.

While the response from local buyers had been positive, its executive director and chief executive officer Allen Khong said there had been an increase in international buyers, particularly from Singapore, who are actively looking for properties in Malaysia as their second home or investment.

“In light of this, we have successfully applied to the Johor state government to reduce the minimum threshold for foreigners to purchase property to start from RM500,000. We expect these factors to further accelerate the take-up rate for Aliva,” he said.

In Johor, the minimum threshold for foreigners to purchase real estate is RM1 million.

Kimlun is an engineering and construction services provider specialising in a wide range of infrastructure and building construction, while Singapore-listed Astaka is an integrated property developer based in Johor, Malaysia.

Kimlun returned to the black for the financial year ended Dec 31, 2023 (FY2023), after it reported a net profit of RM7.06 million against a net loss of RM7.23 million in FY2022. Its revenue increased by 12.8% to RM852.57 million from RM756.13 million a year earlier, due to higher sales revenue in its construction division.

As at Dec 31, 2023, Kimlun has an estimated construction balance order book of approximately RM1.9 billion.

In January 2024, the company announced that it bagged a construction contract worth RM133.6 million from Sunway Parkview Sdn Bhd for main building works in Johor Bahru.

Shares of Kimlun were up one sen or 0.98% at RM1.03 at Thursday’s market close, valuing the group at RM363.98 million. Year to date, the counter has gained 25 sen or 32.05%.