Gamuda core net profit hits new high

Gamuda Singapore, a wholly owned subsidiary of Gamuda Bhd, made a joint bid of S$318.89mil (RM963mil) for the tract earmarked for executive condominium development .

KUALA LUMPUR: Gamuda Bhd took a one-time hit in the fourth quarter arising from the disposal of its water assets to the Selangor state government, but a jump in property sales overseas boosted its annual core profit to a new high.

The company made a net loss of RM101mil in the three-month ended July 31, the company said in a filing with Bursa Malaysia on Friday. Excluding the one-off loss of RM300mil on disposal of Splash and RM4mil on investment in Gamuda Water, core net profit in the last quarter was RM203mil.

The group’s property division, Gamuda Land was a strong performer in the last quarter with RM1bil in property sales.

This lifted its full year sales value to a new high of to RM3.6bil.

Next year, Gamuda Land targets RM4bil property sales from its local and overseas projects.

The group said property sales in FY18 grew by 50% compared with last year’s sales of RM2.4bil on the back of stronger sales from its two projects in Vietnam, Celadon City in Ho Chi Minh City and Gamuda City in Hanoi, and GEM Residences in Singapore.

Overseas sales contributed 70% of overall property sales.

The property division reported revenue of RM2.6bil and core net profit of RM206mil in FY18.

Meanwhile, the group’s construction division’s revenue rose 22% to a record-high RM4.1bil compared with RM3.3bil in the preceding year. Core net profit for the year grew by 32% to a record-high RM297mil.

“Excluding this year’s one-off losses and last year’s one-off impairment loss on investment in Smart of RM98mil, Gamuda group achieved a record-high core net profit of RM818mil this year, an increase of 17% compared with RM701mil last year,” it said.

In a separate development, Gamuda has entered into a conditional share purchase agreement with Pengurusan Air Selangor Sdn Bhd for the proposed disposal of its entire equity interest in Syarikat Pengeluar Air Sungai Selangor Sdn Bhd (Splash) for a total cash consideration of RM2.55bil.

According to a Bursa Malaysia filing, Gamuda said the disposal consideration shall be paid by Air Selangor to Splash Holdings via an upfront sum of RM1.9bil and the remaining sum of RM650mil is to be paid in nine annual instalments.

The upfront sum shall be paid on the completion date, which will be no later than 14 calendar days following the date on which the last of the conditions precedent is satisfied or waived.

The disposal consideration, which is justified as it is within the valuation range as appraised by Moore Stephens, will enable Gamuda to monetise its investment in Splash, via its 40% stake in Splash Holdings.