Gamuda banks on Viet, S’pore property sales

Ongoing construction jobs, MRT2 to help drive growth of Gamuda. (File picture shows Gamuda workers being trained in tunnelling)

PETALING JAYA: Gamuda Bhd expects overseas property sales and the continued progress of the mass rapid transit Putrajaya line (MRT2) to drive its performanncce for the financial year ending July 31,2021 (FY21).

The construction and property group said its resilience would be underpinned by its construction order book of RM5.5bil and unbilled property sales totalling RM3.6bil, which would see the group through the next two years.

“It is anticipated that this year’s performance will be driven by overseas property sales, Vietnam and Singapore, and the continued progress of MRT2, ” Gamuda said in a filing with Bursa Malaysia.

The group said its balance sheet remained healthy with a low gearing of 0.3 times.

For the second quarter ended Jan 31,2021, Gamuda’s net profit was down 29.7% to RM123.12mil from RM175.17mil a year ago, dragged by the effects of the Covid-19 pandemic.

Similarly, its revenue fell 17.9% to RM895.41mil in the the second quarter compared with RM1.09bil in the corresponding period a year ago.

Earnings per share was 4.90 sen for the second quarter compared with 7.07 sen previously.

Despite the Covid-19 pandemic and the movement restrictions, Gamuda said the group’s financial performance continued to be resilient.

“The pace of construction and property projects was returning to pre-movement restriction level due to the group’s rigorous Covid-19 measures on all work fronts, ” it added.

Meanwhile, Gamuda’s property segment sold RM1.5bil worth of properties in the first half of this year compared with RM1bil a year ago, driven by the increase in sales from the overseas market, especially in Vietnam and Singapore.

“Overseas sales, especially in Vietnam and Singapore, continued to spearhead the group’s property division, contributing two-thirds of overall sales, ” it said.

For the cumulative six months, Gamuda’s net profit stood at RM232.4mil, compared with RM348.79mil previously, while revenue was down to RM1.66bil from RM2.19bil.