Econpile bags RM34m piling job for Gemas-JB double-track project

KUALA LUMPUR (Aug 30): Econpile Holdings Bhd has secured a RM34.1 million contract from a unit of YTL Corp Bhd to perform bored piling and pile cap works for a portion of the Gemas-Johor Bahru electrified double-track rail project.

Econpile said it will be undertaking the contracted works at Section 3.0-Paloh to Renggam. “The overall duration of the contract is approximately four months, and is expected to contribute positively to the group in the financial year ending June 30, 2019 (FY19),” the group said in a statement. With this new job, Econpile’s current order book rises to RM1.3 billion, expected to be recognised over two to three years.

“The new contract secured reaffirms our ability to continue to win jobs in the current competitive environment,” said Econpile group chief executive officer Raymond Pang.

The Gemas-Johor Bahru line comprises 192km of electrified double-track, with stations, electric train depots, land viaducts, bridges, electrification and signalling systems.

Separately, Econpile said its net profit for the fourth financial quarter ended June 30, 2018 (4QFY18) slid 7% to RM19.46 million from RM20.86 million a year ago, despite revenue rising 22% to RM192.28 million from RM157.68 million.

It attributed the slight weakening in 4QFY18 earnings to a higher percentage of revenue contribution from infrastructure projects, which generally yield a lower margin. Infrastructure projects made up about 26% of its total top line for the quarter under review, compared with about 11% in the year-ago quarter.

As a result, earnings per share was lower at 1.46 sen for 4QFY18 compared with 1.56 sen for 4QFY17. For the full FY18, its net profit was up 8% to RM87.1 million from RM80.8 million in FY17. Revenue expanded 25% to RM728.4 million from RM581.9 million.

Pang said Econpile will focus on improving the group’s efficiency to strengthen its bottom-line growth.

“We will continue to be prudent in the new financial year, and focus on optimising our resources more efficiently.

“We have invested extensively in our machinery fleet in the past two to three years, which would be sufficient to meet the wide-ranging requirements of ongoing projects.”

This article first appeared in The Edge Financial Daily, on Aug 30, 2018.

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