According to Ong, he heard that a neighbour just “metres” away from the land used by Hong Lai Huat for tapioca farming had secured permits to begin marble excavations, a prized natural stone used for flooring and furnishings. Inspired, Ong decided to conduct bore tests as well, drilling holes throughout the entire tapioca farm, which was around one-seventh the size of Singapore.
“We decided we had to do the bore test too, and marble was found in 3QFY2023,” Ong claims.
According to him, marble formations were found underneath the farm sometime in 2023, but that does not mean Hong Lai Huat could begin production right away. As with many countries, anything subterranean belongs to the government. So excavating for marble requires a licence. On April 8, Hong Lai Huat announced that its Cambodian subsidiary’s marble mining licence had been extended for two years by the country’s Ministry of Mines and Energy, till end-April 2028.
Ong’s target for marble mining is to produce 1,000 containers this year. In the first four months of this year, the company exported 10,000 tonnes of marble, which is 50% more than last year’s total. The marbles are shipped in containers containing around 30 tonnes each, which means Hong Lai Huat exported 667 containers in FY2025.
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When asked for any indication of the pricing of these marbles, Ong says that he is unable to disclose the selling price due to commercial sensitivity.
Ong’s target was to export 1,000 containers, but the war in Iran has caused fuel costs to spike, so the company may hold back to protect its margins. “Our contractors need fuel to carve the stone, cut the stone and load the stones for export,” Ong says. Thus far, all the marble produced by the company has been exported to China for further finishing and then either taken up by local buyers or re-exported to other countries.
“Exporting to China at this stage has its clear advantages. Our quarry site in Cambodia has the technical capability to excavate deep underground and cut the raw marble into large blocks, which are then sold to customers in China for downstream processing, including cutting, polishing and conversion into finished products such as marble tiles,” Ong adds.
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Eventually, Hong Lai Huat wants to have most of the value chain, from marble mining to finished marble products, on-site and in-house. “China has the technological know-how to carve and polish. Our eventual goal is that we want to have the manufacturing capacity on site, which will allow us to capture more value along the production chain and enhance operational efficiency, but for now, as the business is in the infancy stage, it still requires a lot of nurturing,” Ong says.
Marble sounds exciting, but Ong reveals that shareholders questioned the rationale for pivoting to marble mining. He had to explain that the land was carved out of the tapioca farm.
Hong Lai Huat announced the divestment of the tapioca farm in FY2024 for US$37.5 million, at a loss of $13.6 million. According to the company, the sale of the agricultural business resulted from prolonged losses since its inception in FY2008.
Property still runs in Hong Lai Huat’s blood
Despite the marble bonanza and the disposal of the remaining agricultural land, Hong Lai Huat is still very much rooted in its property business. Currently, the company holds two completed projects in Cambodia: D’Seaview, which has 737 residential units and 67 commercial units. Royal Platinum, which is a joint venture, has 851 residential units and 50 commercial units.
In FY2025, the company reclassified 211 units at D’Seaview from “completed development properties held for sale” to “investment properties”. As a result, Hong Lai Huat recorded a fair value gain of $16.9 million, allowing the company to turn a profit of $14.7 million in the same year.
As indicated in the company’s annual report, the valuer adopted a direct comparison method, referencing recent transaction prices of comparable properties, adjusted for factors such as location, tenure, size, design and layout, age and condition of buildings, date of transactions and prevailing market conditions.
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Besides the completed projects, Hong Lai Huat holds a freehold land parcel in Toul Kork District, with a site area of 11,817 sq m, as well as a minority interest in another plot in Sihanoukville. Ong says that, as the current environment is not yet conducive, there are no plans to launch any projects on either.
While considering the right timing, Ong is also looking at ways to monetise the unsold units at D’Seaview, despite the challenging market conditions in Cambodia. On the other hand, he has witnessed Cambodia’s rental market picking up recently and the occupancy rate of D’Seaview’s unsold units seems to back his claims.
Last year, the company rented out just 30 units, and the number has since steadily increased to 174 of the 184 available units. This translates to an occupancy rate of around 94%. Those units range from one bedroom to three bedrooms and include a few commercial units, Ong shares.
In the near term, he prefers to focus on maintaining the current occupancy level. To further improve the performance of D’Seaview, Ong wants to generate more rental income by setting aside a portion of the units for short-term leasing, ranging from as short as a month to six months or longer.
Supply and demand; monetisation plan
From Ong’s perspective, the Cambodia property market continues to evolve and mature, and there is still existing supply to be absorbed in certain segments. On the other hand, he believes demand is now mainly driven by fundamentals rather than speculation, which was prevalent in the early years of the country’s economic liberalisation.
“Today’s buyers are more selective and focused on factors such as location, convenience, quality, and long-term utility. While current market conditions remain competitive, I believe that well-located assets with strong fundamentals will continue to be well-positioned,” Ong adds.
Like any other listed property developer, Hong Lai Huat is trading at a discount to its net asset value (NAV). As at Dec 31, 2025, its NAV per share stood at 22.37 cents, compared to its current share price of 8 cents on June 17. This translates to a price-to-book ratio of just 0.36 times.
To address the gap, Ong is embarking on a potential US$100 million ($128.5 million) capital recycling plan for Hong Lai Huat that could unlock value for all shareholders. “Our current NAV only reflects the historical cost of our land banks and our current projects,” claims Ong. He hopes to kick-start the monetisation plan as soon as possible, but sentiment towards Hong Lai Huat is unfavourable amid regional and global uncertainties.
Nonetheless, Ong is not settling into complacency, as he is also focusing on generating value from existing assets, namely, unsold units in completed projects. “This can be achieved through sales or rental, or a combination of both,” he says.
Buybacks and dividends
Assuming that Hong Lai Huat’s monetisation plan were to be successful, the next thing on the minds of shareholders will definitely be the topic of dividend payouts. The company has not paid a dividend since FY2021, when it last paid $0.002 per share.
However, a dividend payout requires sufficient retained earnings on the balance sheet. This has not yet happened for Hong Lai Huat. In FY2024, the company recorded an accumulated loss of $16.9 million, which it reduced to just $2.3 million in FY2025.
“With our majority shareholding in Hong Lai Huat, we also hope to receive a dividend payout as much as the rest of the shareholders, but we currently do not have sufficient retained earnings to do that,” Ong says. According to a March 23 announcement, the Ong family, comprising Ong, his parents, CEO Ong Bee Huat and Lau Yen Eng, and his brother Ong Jia Ming, collectively owned a 51.09% stake in Hong Lai Huat.
As a result, Ong decides to direct part of the available cash on the balance sheet towards buying back shares. Since the start of its share buyback mandate on April 30, Hong Lai Huat has spent about $226,140 to repurchase close to 2.7 million shares as of June 10, representing 0.56% of its issued share capital excluding treasury shares.
“This provides an alternative way to return cash to our shareholders and reward them for supporting us throughout the years,” Ong says.
Growth strategies
Despite the unexpected business in marble production, Hong Lai Huat’s core business is still in property. Ong says that the company has been evaluating various opportunities. “A couple of months ago, we secured the “option to purchase” two shop houses in Singapore. However, we did not obtain the necessary approval for reconfiguration, and we decided to pull out and look for other opportunities,” Ong claims. He says the company will continue to evaluate potential opportunities regarding shop houses with an underutilised plot ratio.
Apart from that, Hong Lai Huat will be looking at potential land banks in Singapore for boutique residential development, as the company has previously been involved in various boutique condominium projects across Singapore’s eastern region.
For Cambodia’s operation, Ong says the freehold land in Toul Kork District, Phnom Penh, can potentially yield over 1,000 units, comprising residential and commercial units. “The drawings are all there, but as of now, we are holding back the launch until we have clarity on the headwinds,” Ong adds.
Assuming the headwinds have subsided, he says the company could consider bringing in an experienced partner to co-develop the land bank together. “In short, for our property segment, we will still focus on development and concentrate on meeting market expectations,” Ong says.
