Bigger property play for TA

TA ENTERPRISE Bhd, which is well known as a stockbroking and financial services group, wants to beef up its exposure to other more profitable ventures, especially property development and investment.
For the financial year ended Jan 31, 2006, stockbroking and financial services contributed 45% to group earnings while property made up 35%.
Another 20% of the earnings are from its offshore division that is involved in real estate investment of office buildings in Vancouver and Johannesburg, a hotel in Sydney and a stockbroking outfit in Hong Kong.
We want people to know that TA Enterprise is more than a stockbroker and the headway made by the property division bodes well for the groups plans to grow into a conglomerate with diverse and profitable business interests, executive chairman Datin Alicia Tiah told StarBiz.
Tiah said while stockbroking was still a lucrative business, especially during a buoyant stock market, the cyclical nature of the market made it necessary for the group to diversify its earnings base to achieve greater financial stability.