Other Major Developments

Singapore

Residential

Despite the soft market, Keppel Land sold six exclusive plots in the good class bungalow enclave in Cluny Hill. At an average size of at least 15,000 sf each, the six plots generated a total net profit of $44.6 million, demonstrating the resilience of the very top tier of the residential market.

Interest in the residential market revived towards the end of the year. Residential take-up rose to 2,839 new units in the fourth quarter with developers offering the deferred payment scheme, lower prices and banks giving attractive mortgage rates. The demand in the mass and mid-market segments rose, pushing the full year take-up to surge by 28% to 6,917 units.

Keppel Land sold 450 units from three projects in less than three months. Launched in November 2001, The Edgewater achieved 100% sales while Amaranda Gardens achieved 98% sales. Another development in Tanjong Katong, Butterworth 8 which was launched in January 2002, has also achieved 100% sales.

With the successful sales, the Company will embark on the securitisation of the sales proceeds of $380 million to bring forward the cashflow.

Office

After a sterling year in 2000 when pent-up demand hit a record high of 4.22 million sf, office take-up shrank significantly in 2001. With the shake-up in the IT industry and the consolidation in the financial services sector, office occupancy slipped to 1.12 million sf. Despite the softer market, Keppel Land’s well-managed and well-located office buildings enjoyed full or close-to-full occupancies, achieving higher rentals and take-up than the market.

The short-term outlook for the office market will continue to be affected by economic uncertainties. However, the medium-term prospects are positive on hopes of a US-led recovery in 2002, and the limited new supply of prime office space in the next few years.