SINGAPORE – Mapletree Investments Pte Ltd (“Mapletree” or the “Group”) is pleased to announce that its Group Chief Executive Officer, Mr Hiew Yoon Khong (邱运康), has been named ‘Outstanding Chief Executive Officer of the Year 2014’ at the Singapore Business Awards 2015.
Said Mr Hiew on winning the award: “Growing Mapletree from a company with low-yielding properties in Singapore into a leading real estate group with assets across Asia involves building an organisation that is firmly committed to fulfilling our business objectives. In the early years, it required our staff to believe in a business model that was relatively untested in Singapore, and execute it nimbly and well.”
Mr Hiew took the helm of Mapletree in 2003. Backed by a strong conviction that Mapletree needed to be asset light and maximise its capital efficiency to buffer against the volatilities of real estate cycles, he sought to build a strong real estate capital management business for long-term stable earnings.
Working together with the Mapletree team, a business model that integrated the roles of real estate developer, investor and capital manager was established that would see the Group redevelop much of the aging assets it owned into consistently high-yielding properties. The Group also sponsored and developed a number of REITs and private funds, and as it continues to do so, it will be able to source, identify and underwrite other opportunistic ventures, enabling Mapletree to grow quickly.
Today, Mapletree manages four REITs, which as of 31 March 2015 have a combined market capitalisation of over $12 billion – making up 17 per cent of the Singapore REIT industry’s market value of over $70 billion . It also manages six private real estate funds, which together hold a diverse portfolio of assets in Asia.
The establishment of these capital management platforms marks the Group’s transformation into a fast-growing real estate capital management company. Over the years, Mapletree has also earned a reputation as an expert in identifying under-performing properties that it acquires, creates value by redeveloping or retrofitting, and then re-launching.
For the financial year ended 31 March 2014 (“FY 13/14”), Mapletree posted a profit after tax and minority interests (“PATMI”) of $859.4 million.
Assets under management (“AUM”) grew to $24.6 billion – 10 times the $2.3 billion held a decade ago.
In terms of shareholders’ value added, shareholders’ fund grew to $8.3 billion from $2.2 billion over the same period, while net asset value (“NAV”) achieved a 10-year compounded annual growth rate (“CAGR”) of 15.3 per cent.
Added Mr Hiew: “This award therefore belongs to everyone at Mapletree. The story behind the Group’s success is about a team that is consistent and disciplined in executing our business model. This requires both real estate and financial skills sets, and which are developed over time through hard work.
“I’d therefore like to thank all Mapletree directors and employees for the effort and commitment they have put in over the years to help build the company to where it is today. With a strong team in place, I believe that we will continue to grow going forward.”
