KUALA LUMPUR - MALAYSIA'S YTL Corp is planning to launch a luxury real estate investment trust (REIT) worth more than 1 billion ringgit (S$414.2 million) in Malaysia, a report said.

'We are looking at a hospitality REIT,' YTL's Executive Director Mark Yeoh Seok Kah was quoted as saying by the Business Times newspaper.

'We are studying the proposal and opportunities. We will consolidate our properties before planning the REIT.'

Earlier this year, the infrastructure and utilities group said it would buy 26 per cent of Singapore's Macquarie Prime REIT and 50 per cent of Prime REIT Management Holdings Pte Ltd from Macquarie Bank Ltd for S$285 million dollars.

YTL's Yeoh did not give a timeframe for the launch of the REIT, which will comprise of more than three luxury hotels or resorts, but said it would not be next year, the newspaper said. -- REUTERS