SINGAPORE (THE BUSINESS TIMES) - Hatten Land will commence crypto mining activities only in January 2022, as supply chain disruptions have led to a delay in the delivery of crypto mining rigs.
The Malaysian property developer said this on Thursday (Dec 30) in response to queries from the Securities Investors Association (Singapore), or Sias, on the company's operational plans with respect to its cryptocurrency and crypto mining ventures.
In its reply, the Catalist-listed company said the recent tightening of border control measures due to Covid-19 further contributed to the delay, as it resulted in a hold-up in the deployment of technical personnel from Singapore to Melaka.
Therefore, it has rescheduled the commencement of crypto mining activities to January next year, including 80 rigs in a pilot phase that was previously announced.
Still, barring unforeseen circumstances, Hatten Land expects more than 2,500 crypto mining rigs to be installed at its crypto mining facility by the end of next year, with plans to increase the number of rigs to 10,000 in the near future as it collaborates with other crypto mining partners.
It added that its crypto mining activities are "likely to increase substantially from the second half of financial year 2022".
Hatten Land previously announced that its wholly-owned subsidiary had inked a memorandum of understanding with mainboard-listed SMI Vantage to jointly explore business opportunities in crypto mining.
SMI Vantage planned to install and operate up to 2,000 crypto mining rigs on Hatten Land's Melaka properties from December 2021.
Separately, Sias had also asked the property developer to elaborate on the operating performance of its developments, including Hatten City Phase 1 and 2, Vedro by the River and Unicity.
Responding, Hatten Land said the movement restrictions imposed by the Malaysian government due to the Covid-19 pandemic has affected domestic and international tourism, therefore curtailing foot traffic to the malls and property development projects of the group.
Hatten Land is now preparing to resume commercial activity, it said, adding that it will also commence progressive efforts to repurpose its malls.
"These efforts aim to not only invigorate retail activities and enhance retail experiences in our malls by creating an omnichannel or 'phygital' retail platform with e-commerce and our real estate assets, but also open up new opportunities such as digital assets and digital economy activities," it said.
Shares of Catalist-listed Hatten Land closed down 0.1 cent or 1.9 per cent to 5.3 cents on Tuesday before the announcement.
