KUALA LUMPUR: As it wrapped the first quarter of a new financial year, Gamuda Bhd
said it anticipates the year's performance to be largely driven by overseas and domestic construction activities, including the construction of several data centres and higher contribution from the property division’s various quick-turnaround projects (QTP).
In a filing with Bursa Malaysia, the engineering and construction group said its resilience is underpinned by an all-time-high construction orderbook of RM30bil and unbilled property sales of RM6.9bil.
Additionally, the group has a healthy balance sheet with a comfortable net gearing of 39%, well below its self-imposed gearing limit of 70%.
In the first quarter ended Oct 31, 2024, Gamuda recorded a net profit of RM205.39mil, up from RM195.04mil in the year-ago quarter, which translates to an earnings per share of 7.31 sen against 7.26 sen previously.
It said the higher bottomline was owing to total earnings from construction projects growing 20%, although property earnings decreased 17% following the completion of Vietnam’s Celadon City at the end of last year.
Moving forward, the group expects overseas property earnings to rise as building progress picks up at all recently launched QTPs, including Vietnam’s Eaton Park Phase 1 which was fully sold within a week of its launch.
The group reported revenue of RM4.14bil in the quarter under review, against RM2.8bil in the previous corresponding quarter, a 47% jump owing to stronger construction revenue from overseas and domestic projects.
Gamuda declared a first interim dividend of 10 sen during the quarter, adjusted to 5 sen per ordinary shares on the enlarged share capital base after taking into account the effect of 1:1 bonus share issuance.
It said the group's dividend reinvestment plan shall apply to the first interim dividend, which gives shareholders the option to reinvest the payout into new shares in Gamuda.
