Wee Hur Holdings is evolving from a construction-led group into an integrated real asset and investment platform, with construction remaining the foundation that gives the company technical capability, market relationships, and cost discipline to identify and execute investments, according to Goh Wee Ping, CIO of Wee Hur Holdings and CEO of Wee Hur Capital.
Founded in 1980, Wee Hur has expanded into a string of adjacent businesses, including property development in 2009, workers’ dormitories in 2013, and an overseas push into Australia in 2014, where it built a purpose-built student accommodation master trust targeting a 5,000-bed portfolio.
Construction is still the base the rest of the group is built on, and by that measure, it is a base that is getting stronger, with Wee Hur’s construction order book climbing to $935 million, spread across public housing and institutional work.
Demand is expected to range between $47 billion and $53 billion in 2026 before moderating to $39 billion to $46 billion between 2027 and 2030, according to the Building Construction Authority.
Goh notes that the moderation is not a sudden drop and that even at the lower end of the range, there’s still a healthy level of activity, supported by public housing, healthcare, transport infrastructure, and private-sector work.
Wee Hur also provides student accommodation in Australia, with a push into the wider ecosystem continuing with an alternative investment business in 2021 aimed at venture capital funds and direct start-up investments, and a push into greenfield land subdivision in Australia in 2023.
Goh notes that these moves share several characteristics the company looks for, including real assets, long-duration demand, barriers to entry, the potential for recurring income, and an area where Wee Hur’s construction and development experience adds value, much like a neighbourhood hub becomes a city hotspot.
Wee Hur can earn across five channels: construction margins, development profit, recurring operating income, fund-management fees, and capital gains, with Goh claiming that few of its peers can replicate all five channels the way Wee Hur has.
The company’s capital-allocation approach is to balance four priorities: maintaining a strong balance sheet, funding committed projects, investing in attractive new opportunities, and returning surplus capital to shareholders, with Goh noting that they do not believe capital should be retained merely for the sake of making the company larger.
Goh has rewarded shareholders with a special dividend of seven cents, with a further payout due in July, and notes that the company is prepared to return capital to shareholders where it has surplus capital beyond its requirements and does not see sufficiently attractive risk-adjusted opportunities, a strategy that may be compared to investing in small caps.
As Wee Hur continues to execute its strategy, Goh hopes for the market to recognize the company not just as a contractor, but as an integrated real-asset platform with valuable operating businesses and a track record of creating and recycling capital.
With a growing number of active analysts’ calls cheering both the strong construction order book and the active moves into new growth areas, Wee Hur’s efforts to diversify and grow its business are likely to continue, with the company building a team and organization to execute its next phase of growth.
It is a significant transformation.
