15/05/2025

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THURSDAY | MAY 15, 2025

‘M’sian property market displays strong resilience’

Restructuring momentum puts group

back in the black PETALING JAYA: Sapura Energy Bhd (SEB) staged a turnaround for the financial year ended Jan 31, 2025 (FY25) with profit after tax and minority interest of RM190 million, compared to loss after tax and minority interest of RM509 million in the previous year. Revenue in FY25 stood at RM4.7 billion, an increase of RM385 million, or 8.9% or year-on-year, while the group’s earnings before interest, tax, depreciation, and amortisation was RM524 million, the group said in a statement on its audited financial results, confirming the group’s first return to profitability in six years. SEB’s external auditors, Messrs Ernst & Young PLT, accompanied the FY25 audited financial statements with an unqualified audit opinion. In their report, the auditors said SEB’s annual financial statements were prepared based on the assumption that the group and the company will continue operating. However, they highlighted a significant uncertainty about this assumption, as the group’s and company’s current liabilities exceed their current assets, and the group is experiencing serious cash flow problems. Despite the challenges, the financial statements of the group and the company have been prepared based on the assumption that they will continue operating as a going concern. This assumption largely depends on the timely approval, execution and completion of the proposed regulari sation plan by the long stop date of March 11, 2026. The plan is essential for carrying out the schemes of arrangement, the conditional funding agreement, and settling business issues related to finished engineering and construction projects on time.

Ű BY HAYATUN RAZAK sunbiz@thesundaily.com

business development strategy to focus on safer, day-rate, or reimbursable contracts – such as drilling services, operations and maintenance, and transport and installation – while carefully choosing to take on some higher-risk lump-sum engineering, procurement, construction and installation projects. These measures have enabled SEB to sustain annual revenue above RM4 billion since 2022, despite ongoing challenges in securing working capital and bank guarantees. “With these strategic initiatives and the successful implementation of the regularisation plan, SEB is confident in its path to operational recovery, improved financial health and eventual upliftment from PN17 status,” said Muhammad Zamri. “We are hopeful that this plan will not only enable SEB’s recovery but also catalyse the growth of the country’s energy ecosystem,” he added. “Singapore continues to be a major source of foreign buyers, particularly in Johor. In Kuala Lumpur and Penang, we are also seeing renewed interest from other countries, including buyers from China,” Soh said. However, the bulk of the demand is still from locals and first time homebuyers. “Locals are just searching for a home. The bulk of the searches are still primarily for residential purposes. First-time homebuyers. The majority of searches are for residential properties, especially in the sub-sale market, where supply is higher.” Furthermore, Soh said there is renewed interest in property as an investment, not just for people buying homes to live in. “We actually see the interest in property and investment go beyond just residential as well, commercial as well. We see that is also a growing trend.” On sustainability, according to insights from PropertyGuru’s 2024 survey, 83% of Malaysians are willing to pay a premium for a home with sustainable features, prioritising benefits such as reduced utility costs, improved climate resilience and long-term value retention. With 32 million monthly visits from property seekers and 50,000 active real estate agents across the region, PropertyGuru delivers new platform innovations and data-driven insights that directly address pressing challenges in the property market. Demand for sustainable living is growing in Southeast Asia, with 77% of Malaysians factoring in climate risks in their homebuying decisions, according to the survey.

o Sound policies from government and Bank Negara Malaysia contribute to more robust ecosystem: PropertyGuru country manager

KUALA LUMPUR: Demand in the Malaysian property market has proven resilient, bouncing back swiftly after a dip triggered by the US tariff announcement. According to PropertyGuru country manager Kenneth Soh, consumer searches and inquiries briefly declined following US President Donald Trump’s tariff move, but the market quickly regained momentum – highlighting strong underlying confidence among Malaysian property seekers. “As the situation evolves, we are seeing a diminishing immediate impact on overall consumer search behaviour. “Looking at the sector as a whole, it has consistently shown strong resilience,” Soh told reporters at the PropertyGuru Group 2024 Sustainability Report launch and

result, borrowers who do secure loans generally have a high repayment rate.” He added that Malaysia’s credit environment is strong, with a high proportion of borrowers able to service their loans. “All the market signals show that we are not in a problem,” Soh noted. He said demand is driven by locals and first-time homebuyers, as well as returning foreign investors with sustained interest in both residential and commercial properties. “We are still seeing a strong pool of investors, with certain hotspots attracting more attention than others. Foreign investors are also making a comeback,” he said.

Market Outlook briefing yesterday. He said search volumes on the PropertyGuru platform grew consistently from January to April, showing that demand in the market remained resilient. “There is still growth in purchase and rental markets as well,” he added. Soh said sound policies from the government and Bank Negara Malaysia (BNM) have contributed to a more robust property ecosystem. “For instance, Bank Negara Malaysia has helped build a stronger financial ecosystem. Our interest rates remain stable, banks are prudent in evaluating loan applications, and we have a solid credit scoring system. As a

Soh speaking at the PropertyGuru Group 2024 Sustainability Report launch and Market Outlook briefing in Kuala Lumpur yesterday. – BERNAMAPIC

Sapura Energy announces regularisation plan to exit PN17 status PETALING JAYA: Sapura Energy Bhd (SEB) yesterday announced its regularisation plan aimed at facili tating the group’s exit from Practice Note 17 (PN17) status and putting it back on a stronger financial and operational standing. “We are confident the successful execution of the plan will return the group to profitability and restore confidence among stakeholders,“ he said in a statement filed with Bursa Malaysia yesterday. court-convened meetings. Over the years, SEB has managed to achieve these critical milestones, allowing the group to move forward with finalising its regulari sation plan. With help from its

board restructuring task force, the group put into action a reset plan based on three main goals – improve its financial health by cutting down on unmanageable debt and paying off old bills; boost efficiency by carefully managing projects, improving risk management and focusing on what it does best; and promote future growth by changing its businesses to offer solutions, including support for global energy transition. Under the reset plan, SEB imple mented a multipronged strategy to stabilise its global operations, which were severely affected by the Covid 19 pandemic. A key focus was on strengthening bidding and project delivery capa bilities, prioritising margin preser vation and enhancing financial discipline to support healthy cash flow. The group improved enterprise risk management by changing its

In the filing with Bursa Malaysia, the SEB board stated its confidence in the group’s forward path, noting that the successful delivery of key restructuring actions provides a strong found ation for completing the plan. The FY25 audited financial statements will be included in SEB’s annual report, expected to be published by May 31. SEB said the regularisation plan represents the culmination of the group’s turnaround strategy, which began following its classification as a PN17 issuer in 2022.

In financial years 2022, 2023 and 2024, the external auditors high lighted a material uncertainty related to going concern in the financial statements of both the group and the company. The uncertainty was restraining orders, secure favourable outcomes in legal claims related to terminated engi neering and construction projects, and successfully implement the proposed schemes of arrangement with at least 75% approval from relevant scheme creditors during tied to several key factors, including the need to extend

The final plan, expected to be submitted to Bursa Malaysia later this month, includes a debt restructuring exercise to resolve about RM12.1 billion in total borrowings and trade liabilities and a capital reconstruction to set off against the group’s accumulated losses. Group CEO Muhammad Zamri Jusoh said implementation of the regularisation plan, together with the continued focus on its core businesses in engineering and construction, drilling, and operations and main tenance, represents the most viable pathway to turn around the group’s financial condition.