Gamuda looks overseas as local projects not enough to achieve targeted growth

SHAH ALAM (Dec 6): Gamuda Bhd said it is considering more overseas projects in order to maintain the pace of growth it has been achieving over the past decade, with compounded annual growth rate (CAGR) of 15% annually in terms of revenue and profit.

Gamuda group managing director Datuk Lin Yun Ling said there are challenges for both the property and construction businesses in Malaysia, which is why the group is focusing on projects in Singapore, Vietnam and Australia.

"Over the past 10 years, our CAGR for revenue and profit was in the mid-teens, at around 15%. We certainly would like to maintain our pace of growth going forward, which is why we are looking to foreign markets.

"We will still be involved in Malaysia but it won't be sufficient for the growth we are aiming for," Lin said during a press conference, following the group's annual general meeting earlier today.

Austalia is one of the markets in which Gamuda is eyeing for jobs, where the state governments of Victoria and New South Wales are looking to invest approximately A$100 billion into railway and metro projects over the next 10 years, which will mainly be located in Sydney and Melbourne. 

Lin said Gamuda needs to make improvements to its core business capabilities and look at new markets, as the group will continue to face challenges in the changing market. 

Some challenges currently faced by Gamuda are margin pressures in the property business amid the overhang in the property market, while the construction industry is facing stiff competition from state-owned contractors from China.

At midday break today, Gamuda added 0.43% or 1 sen to RM2.34, with 2.17 million shares traded. — theedgemarkets.com

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