Singapore’s CapitaLand Ltd intends to build integrated developments internationally due to higher returns. President and chief executive officer Liew Mun Leong said it plans to do this in Malaysia via its 21 per cent unit, United Malayan Land Bhd, which has ample land.

According to him, not many countries have built integrated developments on a large scale.

The company is currently developing six similar projects comprising cover hotels, serviced apartments, retail and commercial buildings in Singapore, China and Bahrain under the “Raffles City” brand. These projects are worth a combined S$7.16 billion.

Liew revealed there are plans to build another Raffles City in gateway cities such as Mumbai and Moscow. He added that demand will be good if there is a suitable location as well as mass traffic flow of people as it involves huge investments.

The company hopes to meet its internal net profit and revenue target for its current financial year ending December 31, 2008 via new product launches and sales from existing developments. Last year, it recorded a net profit of S$2.8 billion on the back of S$3.8 billion revenue, mainly due to capital gain.

Liew said while the company remains optimistic for 2008, it will be a tough year with the global economic slowdown. He added that its diversification into other markets has helped alleviate the impacts of rising cost, inflation and a gloomy economy.