Shares of Wilmar International (WLIL.SI), the world’s largest listed palm oil firm, fell as much as 2.4% on Wednesday after it said it will invest around 889.2 million yuan ($175 million) in property joint ventures in China.

At 9:11 a.m., Wilmar shares were down 2.2% at $5.79 on a volume of 3.6 million shares.

Wilmar said on Tuesday it had entered joint ventures with Kerry Properties and Shangri-La China to develop three sites in Yingkou City, China, for residential, commercial and hotel use, citing growing demand for such properties in lower tier cities.

However, DMG & Partners Research said the entry into the property market represents Wilmar’s first ever deviation from its core agribusiness.

“We fear this could mark the start of Wilmar’s loss of business focus and corporate discipline and do not think the venture will be well received by the market,” DMG said in a report.

But the brokerage maintained its “buy” call as it viewed Wilmar as inexpensive at 13.5 times 2011 earnings.

Phillip Securities separately has upgraded Wilmar to “buy” from “hold” and maintained its target price of $7.08.