ARK@GAMBAS Completed in 2014
According to the Building and Construction Authority’s report on
8 January 2015, the overall construction demand in Singapore
for 2015 is projected to be between $29.0 billion to $36.0 billion.
Although this forecast for 2015 was lower than the historical
high of $37.7 billion achieved in 2014, a steady pipeline of public
sector projects of industrial, institutional and civil engineering
works are expected to account for an estimated 60.0% of the
projected total construction activity in 2015. With this forecast of
sustained demand on civil engineering works, the company’s Civil
Engineering Construction segment will potentially stand to benefit
and to continue to grow its order book.
On the cost front, we expect the overall construction industry to
be affected by rising business costs in the year ahead and also
continues to be challenged by a shortage of experienced and
skilled manpower due to the prevailing government policies and
legislation involving foreign hires.
Our Property Development division was successful in tendering
for a B2 industrial land parcel in Tuas South from JTC in
November 2014. We are planning to develop a 5.5 storey multi-
user ramp-up industrial building on the site (subject to approval of
the relevant authorities).
Meanwhile, our completed Ark@Gambas project is about 91% sold
to-date. Our second industrial building project Ark@KB received
its TOP on 3 March 2015 - all the units at Ark@KB have been sold
except for a unit that we are keeping for our own use.
The sale of condominium apartments at our 50% joint venture
development, The Skywoods, is on-going with about 50% of units
sold, but with the current cooling measures introduced by the
Government, we envisage that sales is expected to be slow.
Moving ahead, in view of the challenging property development
market, we will be prudent in seeking out land parcels for future
property development projects. The Group remains in a strong
financial position to take advantage of investment and development
opportunities that may arise both locally and overseas.
Acknowledgment
On behalf of the Board of Directors, we would like to express
our appreciation to our directors, management and staff for their
contribution and commitment to the Group. Together, we worked
hard to elevate Hock Lian Seng to higher levels of growth and
achievement. We would also like to thank our customers, business
partners and shareholders for the continued support and friendship
all these years.
Ong Seh Hong
Independent Non-Executive Chairman
Chua Leong Hai
Executive Director and CEO
Hock Lian Seng Holdings Limited
Annual report 2014
5
