From January to May, the firm booked transactions from pre-sale property units, technically known as marketing sales, totaling Rp 2.63 trillion (US$197.78 million), similar to the figure recorded in the same period last year.

It aims to post Rp 8.5 trillion from marketing sales this year, of which Rp 7 trillion would derive from existing property units, while the rest would be from four new projects to be rolled out this year.

“Although the realized marketing up to May was still below [our] target, we will launch some new projects in the second half of this year. Doing this, we are still optimistic about reaching Rp 8.5 trillion [in sales] by the end of this year,” Ciputra director Tulus Santoso said on Thursday.

The new projects in the pipeline are a residential complex in Bali, the Sadana Ciputra Beach Resort, two high-rise projects in South Jakarta, the Newton 2 Apartments and the Suites Apartments, and a mixed-use project consisting of three apartment towers and retail stores in Batam.

Ciputra has set aside a capital expenditure (capex) of Rp 1.5 trillion this year, including to finance the four projects. Half of the funds will be sourced from the firm’s internal cash, while the rest from bank loans.

Of the total capex figure, half will be used for land acquisition, while the remainder will fund project development.

Despite the unfavorable results in the first five months of the year, Ciputra remains optimistic that the sales outlook will improve in the second half of this year as the consumer confidence index by the Bank of Indonesia (BI) is following an upward trend.

The consumer confidence index released by the central bank rose to 125.9 in May from 123.7 in April in a sign that consumers are a bit more optimistic over the current economic conditions.

Other than that, positive government policies related to loan-to-value (LTV), housing loans and primary reserve requirements have also supported the growth in the property industry, according to the firm.

“These should have made the property market more conducive [to growth this year],” said director Harun Hajadi.

The four new projects will add to the two new residential projects it kicked off in May, namely CitraLand Cibubur in Bogor, West Java, intended for the middle-low market segment, and CitraLand Talassa City in Makassar, which aims to attract the middle class.

The two residential projects are being developed with land owners under a joint operation scheme. The company claims that it has so far sold 157 units in CitraLand Cibubur and 170 units in CitraLand Talassa City.

The slow economic growth, which affects people’s purchasing power and weakens property sales, has negatively impacted Ciputra.

Last year, the firm’s revenues declined by 10.3 percent to Rp 6.74 trillion from 2015 on the back of slower residential sales.

In line with the trend, its net profits also dropped by 48.53 percent year-on-year (yoy) to Rp 861.76 billion last year.

Seventy-six percent of Ciputra’s revenues were generated from sold properties, followed by the sales and management of commercial properties.

In 2017, the firm aims to book Rp 7 trillion in sales, only up by 4.5 percent from the past year, while also forecasting a moderate rise in net profits to about Rp 900 billion.

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