Malaysian-based YTL Corporation (YTL) may launch Starhill shopping malls in Singapore and London within the next 12 months following its success in Dubai.

According to managing director Tan Sri Francis Yeoh, the company intends to replicate the brand in Singapore, and that it could either be a greenfield or an existing property.

“Time is now a window for us and I can wait for 12 months to make a capital investment in Singapore,” said Yeoh. Back in November, it bought an apartment building in Singapore for S$435 million, a record price then.

The owner of the Starhill brand first developed the luxury concept in Kuala Lumpur and launched its Starhill Gallery in Dubai last April. Yeoh said the company has also been approached by London to expand its Starhill brand.

For its fourth quarter, YTL reported a 36 per cent drop in profit as demand for Malaysian real estate slowed. Meanwhile, gains in residential property prices rose 0.4% last quarter, the slowest in four years.