Gamuda’s order book stands at RM21bil

24 Mar 2023 | The Star

Petaling Jaya: Gamuda Bhd is optimistic on its performance outlook, underpinned by its construction order book of close to RM21bil.

This is inclusive of the A$2bil (RM5.93bil) boost from the imminent completion of the Australian transport projects business (Downer Transport Projects) acquisition.

In a filing with Bursa Malaysia yesterday, Gamuda said it also has an unbilled property sales of RM5.4bil.

“On top of that, the group has a healthy balance sheet with almost zero net gearing,” the company said.

Gamuda said its performance for this year would be driven by property sales, pick-up in work progress of its projects in Australia, including the Sydney Metro West – Western tunnelling package and Coffs Harbour bypass as well as the M1 Motorway extension.

Meanwhile, the construction giant reported a net profit of RM195mil for its second quarter ended Jan 31, 2023 (2Q23), a 10% year-on-year (y-o-y) growth owing to better results from both its construction and property segments as well as higher overseas earnings.

This translates to an earnings per share (EPS) of 7.46 sen, up by 41 sen compared with the EPS of 7.05 sen in 2Q22.

Gamuda said the stronger contribution from its construction and property segments replaced its highway segment earnings, following the divestment of four of its highways in October 2022.

Additionally, overseas earnings tripled to RM97.58mil, as its Australia and Vietnam projects picked up pace.

Earnings from Gamuda’s local businesses, on the other hand, declined by 29% y-o-y to RM97.04 for the quarter under review.

“Overseas earnings tripled to contribute half of overall earnings compared with 22% previously as our overseas projects picked up pace,” Gamuda noted.

Thanks to its overseas operations, its revenue for 2Q23 improved by 32% y-o-y to RM2.2bil compared with RM1.7bil in 2Q22, bringing its revenue for the first half of its financial year 2023 (1H23) to RM3.7bil, a 26% jump from the previous first half revenue of RM2.9bil.

Gamuda’s net profit for 1H23 stood at RM1.4bil – an all-time high – boosted by a one-off cash gain of RM1bil on divestment of its four highways in 1Q23.

Excluding this one-off gain, Gamuda’s core earnings rose 17% to RM385mil for 1H23 compared with last year’s first half earnings of RM329mil, on the back of stronger earnings from construction and property divisions.

“Overseas earnings surged to contribute 38% of overall core earnings compared with 18% previously, as our overseas projects picked up pace,” Gamuda noted.