Gamuda 3Q profit up 17%; MD Lin’s contract renewed for another five years

KUALA LUMPUR (June 28): Gamuda Bhd’s net profit in its third quarter ended April 30, 2018 (3QFY18) grew 17% to RM200.69 million from RM170.93 million a year ago, mainly due to higher work progress from the group’s construction projects, stronger overseas property sales, and contributions from several new property projects in Malaysia.

Revenue for the quarter jumped 47% year-on-year (y-o-y) to RM1.24 billion from RM839.49 million. It announced a six sen second interim dividend, payable on July 31.

For the nine-month period ended April 30, 2018 (9MFY18), Gamuda’s net profit grew 23% y-o-y to RM614.96 million from RM499.34 million, as revenue rose 37% y-o-y to RM3.01 billion from RM2.2 billion, with better contributions from all three core operations — led by its engineering and construction segment.

Gamuda said its performance for the year is “on track”, as its mass rapid transit Sungai Buloh-Serdang-Putrajaya (SSP) line (MRT2) is picking up pace, further supported by higher overseas property sales in Vietnam and Singapore, and the launch of new local townships, besides steady earnings from its expressway division.

The property division sold RM2.6 billion worth of properties in 9MFY18, 85% more than the RM1.4 billion sales it achieved in the same period last year. “Local projects contributed 30% of overall sales,” said Gamuda.

The MRT2, which it is undertaking as project delivery partner via joint venture (JV) firm MMC Gamuda KVMRT (PDP SSP) Sdn Bhd, was overall 22% complete as at end-May 2018, said Gamuda, while the underground works’ progress stood at 31.5%.

Additionally, its JV works with Naim Engineering Sdn Bhd for the WPC04 (Pantu Junction to Batang Skrang) portion of the Pan Borneo Sarawak highway was 25% complete.

On the Penang Transport Master Plan, it said discussions with the relevant state and federal government agencies have intensified, and that it targets to obtain the necessary approvals by the fourth quarter of this year.

In a separate filing, Gamuda said it has extended the contract of managing director (MD) Datuk Lin Yun Ling for another five years, ending June 30, 2023.

Lin, who is also a founder of Gamuda, has been the group’s MD since 1981.

Shares in Gamuda closed three sen or 0.94% higher at RM3.22, giving the group a market capitalisation of RM7.97 billion.

This article first appeared in The Edge Financial Daily, on June 28, 2018.

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