Update Gamuda 4Q earnings up 23.1%, lifted by property, water and expressway divisions

by **Cals** Mon 29 Sep 2014, 22:25

Update Gamuda 4Q earnings up 23.1%, lifted by property, water and expressway divisions

Business & Markets 2014

Written by Charlotte Chong of theedgemalaysia.com

Monday, 29 September 2014 20:25

KUALA LUMPUR (Sept 29): Engineering, property and infrastructure outfit Gamuda Bhd’s net profit bumped up 23.1% year-on-year to RM205.89 million in its fourth financial quarter ended July 31, 2014 (4QFY14), lifted by higher contribution from its property and water and expressway concessions divisions.

Its revenue for the quarter fell 7.64% to RM592 million from RM640.9 million in 4QFY13, while its earnings per share improved by 19.33% to 8.89 sen from 7.45 sen, its filing to Bursa Malaysia earlier this evening read.

It told the local exchange that the decrease in revenue was due to the substantial completion of the electrified double-tracking railway project.

As for its full year (FY15) financials, the group raked in a net profit of RM719.4 million, a 33% rise from the RM540.9 million it recorded a year ago – which it attributed to higher contributions from its construction and property divisions.

Revenue for FY14, however, was flat at RM2.23 billion, as compared with RM2.24 billion in FY13.

The group said it is anticipating a good performance next year from on-going construction projects, substantial unbilled sales of the property division, and steady earnings from the water and expressway concessions division.

Gamuda, which is also the project delivery partner for the Klang Valley Mass Rapid Transit project (KVMRT) through MMC Gamuda KVMRT (PDP) Sdn Bhd, said the cumulative progress for the project as at end August 2014 was at 52% completion, while its underground works package has achieved a certified progress of 67%.

"The project is on target for Phase 1 completion in December 2016 and full completion by July 2017, with no significant cost overruns so far," it added.

On its electrified double-tracking railway project, it said the project’s cumulative progress – also as at end August 2014 – was at 99.8% completion, with full completion expected by Nov 7 this year.

As for its property division, it achieved record sales of RM1.81 billion for FY14 as compared with RM1.76 billion in FY13. Its unbilled sales at the end of this quarter were RM1.7 billion.

On its expressway division, it said traffic volumes of the division’s various expressways have been stable and resilient.

It is worth noting that Gamuda owns a 40% stake in Syarikat Pengeluar Air Sungai Selangor Sdn Bhd (Splash), which had rejected the Selangor state government’s offer to take over the water asset in March this year.

"There are no recent developments but we are anticipating discussions to start with the state government," it noted in the filing.

Gamuda’s counter closed 1 sen or 0.21% lower at RM4.81 today, translating to a market capitalisation of RM11.18 billion.