Aseana ponders distribution to shareholders

21st Jul 2010 17:50

Asia-focused residential and commercial property developer Aseana Properties Ltd has raised Rm333m ($104m) from the sale of an office block and a retail mall in Kuala Lumpur and may consider returning some cash to shareholders.Aseana decided that it was best to take advantage of the offer from the ARA Asia Dragon Fund because of the depressed office market in the city. It also means that Aseana will not have to renegotiate its loans in early 2011. Aseana believes that Vietnam has better prospects than Malaysia. Aseana is considering returning some of the cash to shareholders through dividends or share buybacks. The availability of attractive reinvestment opportunities will have a bearing on any distribution to shareholders. There is a third component of the development which includes 186 offices that are being sold separately. The gross value of this part of the development is $61m. The total value of the development is $165m, which means that Aseana is expected to lose $4m on the development as a whole - mainly due to a tax charge relating to the early disposal of the assets. At 47 cents a share, Aseana is trading at around one-half of its reported NAV.