Its Prospects.. Hap Seng

Hap Seng

Its Prospects … dated Jan 2011

It has five core businesses in its stable: trading, including the distribution of Mercedes vehicles; plantations, housed under listed Hap Seng Plantations Bhd; finance services; property, quarry and building materials and fertilizer manufacturing.

The group is a top player in several of the areas it engages.

In 2005, after DaimlerChrysler Malaysia took over the distributorship of Mercedes vehicles, Hap Seng was made the authorized dealer for the marquee and Smart vehicles in the Klang Valley .

Subsidiary Hap Seng Star Sdn Bhd is the sole authorized dealer of Mercedes and Mitsubishi FUSO vehicles in Sabah and Sarawak while Hap Seng Industrial Sdn Bhd, a wholly owned subsidiary located in Sabah fabricates and assembles logging truck trailers, tankers and other industrial transport vehicles.

The Mercedes dealership in the Klang Valley helped the way for the Hap Seng to expand beyond Borneo .

While working hard to win a bigger slice of the domestic luxury car market, Hap Seng is also making its way abroad. Hap Seng already captured 60% of the Vietnam market for Mercedes Benz.

Hap Seng is also looking elsewhere for opportunities, such as Indonesia , Thailand and central Australia .

The auto division, which now accounts for less than 10% of group profit, is the main focus of Hap Seng’s expansion plan.

For the property division, it bought 50% of Menara Citibank in Jln Ampang, KL. It also bought another prime asset – the former MUI Plaza as well as two tracts adjacent to the building.

The group also acquired the plot adjacent to RHB Centre and the Royal Selangor Golf Course near Jln Tun Razak for development.

In the Golden Triangle, it almost has three acres of prime development land. On top of that, it has 2000 acres of landbank – 500 acres in the peninsula (50 acres in Kulim and over 400 acres in Sepang) and 1500 acres in Sabah .

Financing is the second most profitable business in Hap Seng’s stable, with a profit contribution of nearly 17%.The group’s finance services are governed by BNM’s Monet Lending Act, serving the SMEs.