The Star - Tan Sri Dato Danny Tan Chee Sing
Tan Sri Danny Tan Chee Sing, 62, is the founder of Tropicana Corp Bhd and is still the main shareholder with a 71% direct and indirect stake in the company, even though he has retired from leadkig the day-to-day operations of Tropicana since June 2015.
The running of the operations at Tropicana has been taken over by group CEO Datuk Yau Kok Seng and Tan's son, deputy group CEO Datuk Dickson Tan. The property company's strategy to adapt to the challenging macro landscape with its lean balance sheet has helped it weather the tough times. Property continues to be challenging, as focus continues to stay on the affordability of real estate pursuant to the rapid rise in prices a few years ago. Part of its degearing exercise to strengthen its balance sheet last year saw the company disposing a freehold land in Gelang Patah, Johor, for RM569.87mil.
The said land was sold to Tiarn Oversea Group Sdn Bhd and was originally bought for RM366.55mil in September 2013. The company will record a gain from the disposal of about RM55.5rnil (net of tax payable) and is expected to be completed in the second half of 2022. The company has estimated unbilled sales of RM2.6bil to date, and is well-positioned to achieve its full-year sales target of RM1.2bil, due to encouraging demand for its developments within prime locations.
Looking back, Tropicana's first major project was a 625-acre piece of land that is now known as Tropicana Golf & Country Resort. Today, it has 17 ongoing projects on over 1,300 acres of prime land, with a potential gross development value in excess of RM50bil.
Moving forward, the company believes that there is market demand for landed property and will focus on newly launched landed property at Tropicana Aman in Kota Kemuning, Tropicana Heights, Tropicana Metropark and Tropicana Gardens in the central region, while in Penang, it has Tropicana 218 Macalister. In Johor, Tropicana will focus on expanding its presence in Iskandar Malaysia, with vibrant and integrated developments such as Tropicana Danga Bay and Tropicana Danga Cove.
