WestProp to proceed with projects

BUSINESS REPORTER

 

WestProp Holdings Limited will proceed with its projects despite an under subscription of its initial public offering, CEO Ken Sharpe has said.

Its initial public offering raised US$3.3m out of the required US$30m to fast track the completion of pipeline projects.

“Fortunately, we didn’t need the capital to start a business but to continue the business,” Sharpe said.

He said the listing was not there to change the projection of where we are going as a company “because we are still committed to the projects that we have”.

“We have currently 5 ongoing projects, projects like Millennium Heights Block 3, it is the third block of the development at Millennium Heights. We are now on the second floor and we are accelerating that project for completion from next year in March to before the end of this year,” Sharpe said.

He said the company was confident that the team could build at the pace of one floor per month. Block 3 has 112 units. Sales for Block 4 have started and construction would start at the end of the year, Sharpe said.

“We will even start selling Block 5 this year, which is another 100-plus units. I think in terms of the journey of Millennium Heights, which is 1000 units, we can say we are 30% completed with Block 3,” he said.

The property tycoon said WestProp would continue with that project regardless of the capital raise that is required from the preference shares.

Sharpe said the projects are self-funding and the confidence in the products is there.

“It is the confidence in the offering that we need from the market and that is dependent on the pension funds, stock brokers, funds that are available (liquidity in the market) in the capital markets for the listed shares that we want to reintroduce in preference shares,” he said.

Sharpe said Pomona City was in phase 2 and 550 stands were serviced last year.

Of the 550 stands, WestProp has sold more than 300, he said.

“We are at advanced stages of completing the servicing there, definitely before the end of the year, hopefully by Q4 we would have completed servicing that. That will unlock 770 stands to the market. We have Warren Hills, which we want to release towards the end of this year,” Sharpe said.

He said the company has performed well, keeping the promises it has made to the market.

“The main thing with developing a building is completing a project on time, to quality and within budget. If we are able to continue doing that then we will develop the projects that we have developed to date in a more excellent way in future,” Sharpe said.

The executive said it was about being in the country and believing in the future and it was not only about performance of the project.

“We are one of the few developers that have access to our own title deeds; we don’t rely on the government to issue title deeds or third parties. We have in-house title deeds and to date we have sold and transferred properties on all the developments that we are doing with title deeds that we are holding,” he said.

“That minimises the risk of buyers of property from us but also gives confidence to the market when we are listed that we own the asset that is underlying the property that we are developing on.”

 

 

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