KUALA LUMPUR (April 24): KLCCP Stapled Group, controlled by national oil and gas company Petroliam Nasional Bhd, said on Wednesday that it is still actively pursuing and exploring opportunities.
The group, comprising KLCC Property Holdings Bhd and KLCC Real Estate Investment Trust (REIT), is seeking matured assets “with good yield,” chief executive officer Datuk Md Shah Mahmood told reporters after the group’s annual general meeting.
“We have not determined the location, but we are actively pursuing and also exploring,” Md Shah said. “For the REIT, it's going to be very stringent, in terms of the requirement and the criteria of the asset that we want to invest.”
The group owns a diverse property portfolio largely located within the Kuala Lumpur city centre, including Petronas Twin Towers, Menara ExxonMobil, Menara 3 Petronas and Menara Dayabumi.
KLCCP Stapled Group’s planned foray abroad comes at a time when Malaysia’s economy faces potential slowdown as consumer spending moderates amid the increase in sales and service tax followed by the introduction of a High Value Goods Tax.
There is an “increasing urgency for us to expand and diversify our business to maintain our leadership and relevance in a rapidly changing landscape,” KLCCP said in its annual report. The group has received a mandate to expand its investment portfolio and explore new investments from 2024 onwards, it said.
KLCCP chairman Tan Sri Ahmad Nizam Salleh said at the same press conference that investing in global assets requires a “more demanding test” that considers the exposure to the risks when investing in foreign countries.
“All sorts of things [such as security risk and economic exposure] must come together — to generate better results. The board is very strict on this [global assets], and it will require the management to comply with all the standards,” Ahmad Nizam said.
At 5pm, shares in KLCCP rose four sen or 0.5% to RM7.54, valuing the group at RM13.63 billion.