Gamuda 2Q net profit rises 7% as overseas projects continue to drive earnings

Kuala Lumpur (March 27): Gamuda Bhd’s net profit rose 7.29% to RM208.8 million in the second quarter ended Jan 31, 2024 (2QFY2024) from RM194.62 million a year earlier, on the back of higher revenue from its overseas projects.

Revenue more than doubled to RM3.33 billion year-on-year against RM1.44 billion in 2QFY2023, the construction group said in a filing to Bursa Malaysia on Wednesday.

“Overseas projects stepped up to fill the gap left by the decline in domestic revenue and earnings as the MRT2 [MRT Sungai Buloh-Serdang-Putrajaya line] project was completed last year,” Gamuda said.

The group said its quarterly revenue from overseas projects surged to 77% of overall revenue, while quarterly net profit from overseas projects surged to 58% of overall net profit.

“Gamuda Engineering’s quarterly revenue from overseas projects tripled to RM2.1 billion from RM662 million last quarter [of 2023], whilst overseas net profit more than doubled to RM72 million from RM34 million last quarter [of 2023] on the back of the progress of Australian projects,” it noted.

Gamuda Land’s overall revenue increased by 70%, and net profit grew by 62%, driven by stronger performances from both overseas and domestic projects.

Net profit quarter-on-quarter was up 7.05% from RM195.04 million in 1QFY2024, as revenue grew 18.76% from RM2.8 billion in the immediate preceding quarter, thanks to higher property earnings in 2QFY2024.

However, Gamuda’s net profit for the first half of the financial year 2024 (1HFY2024) declined 70.38% to RM403.84 million versus RM1.36 billion in 1HFY2023, while revenue surged twofold to RM6.14 billion in 1HFY2024 as compared to RM2.75 billion in the same period last year, mainly driven by stronger overseas performances of the construction and property divisions.

On its prospects, Gamuda said that its performance this year will be driven by overseas construction activities as projects in Australia and Taiwan continue to accelerate.

“Moving forward, the resilience of the group is underpinned by a large construction order book of RM24 billion and unbilled property sales of RM6.7 billion. On top of that, the group has a healthy balance sheet with a comfortable net gearing of 29%, well below its self-imposed gearing limit of 70%,” it added.

Shares in Gamuda closed eight sen or 1.54% higher to RM5.27 on Wednesday, valuing the group at RM14.59 billion. The counter has risen 14.81% year-to-date and 28.85% in the past one year.