Highlight Ikhmas Jaya secures RM161.12m construction job from MRCB

by **Cals** Mon 23 Nov 2015, 00:25

Highlight

[size=28]Ikhmas Jaya secures RM161.12m construction job from MRCB

By Azril Annuar / theedgemarkets.com | November 20, 2015 : 8:39 PM MYT

KUALA LUMPUR (Nov 20): Bore piling and bridging specialist Ikhmas Jaya Group Bhd ([You must be registered and logged in to see this image.] Valuation: N/A, Fundamental: N/A) was just awarded a RM161.12 million contract by Malaysian Resources Corp Bhd (MRCB) ( Valuation: 1.40, Fundamental: 1.30) for a number of construction works for a proposed mixed development at Persiaran Barat, Section 52, Petaling Jaya, Selangor.

Ikhmas Jaya, which debuted on the Main Market of the local bourse on July 28, said its wholly-owned unit Ikhmas Jaya Sdn Bhd accepted a letter of award from MRCB's wholly-owned unit MRCB Builders Sdn Bhd, today.

The job entails the substructure works for Towers 2, 3, 5 and 6 of the mixed project's Phase 1A, Phase 1C and Phase 1F on Lot 12 of Persiaran Barat.

The job is for a period of 20 months and is expected to commence today and be completed by July 19, 2017.

While the project will not have any material effect on Ikhmas Jaya's earnings and net assets for the financial year ending Dec 31, 2015 (FY15), it "is expected to contribute positively to the earnings and net assets for FY16", the group noted.

In a separate filing, the group announced that its net profit for the third quarter ended Sept 30 (3QFY15) rose 6.35% to RM7.44 million from RM7 million in last year's corresponding quarter, mainly due to a higher contribution from an infrastructure project, as well as the finalisation of the railway electrification and double tracking project.

Quarterly revenue, however, shrank by 11.58% to RM63.52 million from RM71.84 million last year.

For its cumulative nine-month period, Ikhmas Jaya's profit rose 45% to RM22.88 million from last year's RM15.78 million, while revenue gained 2.89% to RM204.23 million from RM198.54 million; both top and bottom line improvements were primarily due to higher contributions from its infrastructure projects.

Moving forward, the group expects its performance for FY15 to improve on the back of the continued growth expected from the piling and foundation services market in Malaysia.

At market close, Ikhmas Jaya shares were unchanged at 69.5 sen, which gave it a market capitalisation of RM361.4 million. Its share price is now 21.93% higher than its initial issue price of 57 sen.

(Note: The Edge Research's fundamental score reflects a company's profitability and balance sheet strength, calculated based on historical numbers. The valuation score determines if a stock is attractively valued or not, also based on historical numbers. A score of 3 suggests strong fundamentals and attractive valuations.)
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