Guthrie to end land sale

Guthrie to end land sale

KUALA LUMPUR (AFX-ASIA): Kumpulan Guthrie Bhd hopes to conclude the sale of about 1,300 acres of plantation land by year-end for some 500 million ringgit(US$131.6 million) its executive director of finance and corporate services Ghazali Awang said.

He said the land is located in the Klang Valley but is outside of the company's Guthrie Corridor property development which spans some 11,650 acres.

He declined to identify the potential buyers, or to say whether the potential buyer is a property developer.

The sale of the 1,300-acre land is part of its overall plan to dispose of over 1,000 hectares of plantation land to finance the purchase of the Holdiko plantations in Indonesia.

Ghazali also said Guthrie is targeting to raise 700-900 million ringgit from the overall disposal of its 1,000 hectares plantation land, and the proceeds will be used to offset its earlier borrowings for the purchase of the Holdiko plantations.

Guthrie is also looking to refinance part of the borrowings via an issue of Islamic bonds, he added.

Asked on his outlook for CPO prices, Ghazali said the company hopes prices will be sustained at 1,100 ringgit per ton until the year-end.