KUALA LUMPUR: Lembaga Tabung Haji (TH) has strengthened its investment in the real estate market overseas after finalising the negotiations to purchase a building in London on July 12, 2022.

Its group managing director and chief executive officer, Datuk Seri Amrin Awaluddin, said the purchase of the freehold building was in addition to TH's property investment portfolio in the United Kingdom (UK) since 2012.

The property is a government office building which houses the UK's Department for Transport.

"The ownership of this property will give good returns to TH in the long term, considering its long-term rental contract while maintenance cost is fully borne by the tenants, with increasing annual rental rate and stable market value.

"This is also in line with TH's investment objective to diversify the types of investment in terms of assets and locations," he said in a statement today.

Amrin said the six-storey office building spanning 179,869 square metres is known as Great Minster at 33 Horseferry Road, Victoria, and is sited in a strategic location amidst the biggest business district in West End, London, and is a commercial hub that is currently expanding rapidly.

Victoria also houses many government and public sector offices due to its location in the proximity of the Parliament building, and with easy accessibility to major public transportation including underground train stations at Pimlico, Westminster and Victoria, as well as other main transportation networks.

"London is still an attractive financial hub with a lot of business opportunities currently and in the long term, hence, this is encouraging for the property sector," he said.

Nevertheless, at the same time, he said TH is always cautious in making any property investment to ensure it generates immediate returns to cover the cost of the annual Haj pilgrimage and profit distribution, besides providing a long-term return that is stable and safe for the continuity of the fund and its depositors.

TH allocates about 11 per cent of its RM88 billion funds for investments in property locally and abroad.

"TH is aggressively exploring opportunities to increase its investments in the property sector overseas in efforts to diversify its investment portfolio as this has been identified as the best move to generate competitive and consistent returns for its 8.5 million depositors," he added.

-- BERNAMA