Sim Lian gunning for assets in Australia, London

SIM Lian Group's diversification from building construction to property development some 16 years ago amid a global economic crisis has evidently paid off. It is now morphing into a more diversified company as it ploughs deeper into income-yielding property investments in overseas markets, in the face of a government-engineered slowdown in the Singapore property market.

Having accumulated two freehold office buildings and six freehold shopping centres in Australia since 2014, Sim Lian is eyeing more assets in Australia with an entry yield of 6.5-7 per cent, Sim Lian group executive director Kuik Sing Beng told The Business Times.

"We recognise that our profit will not be stable over the years if we just focus on property development projects. So in 2012, we have a diversification strategy which was to go into recurring-income projects," said Mr Kuik, who also spearheaded the set-up of Sim Lian's property development division back in 2000.