The group said overseas earnings contribute almost half of total construction earnings.
PETALING JAYA: Construction titan Gamuda Bhd
continues to anticipate its performance for the financial year ending July 31, 2025 (FY25) will be largely driven by overseas and domestic construction activities including the construction of several data centres and higher contribution from its property division’s various quick-turnaround projects (QTP).
The group said its resilience is underpinned by an all-time-high construction order book of RM30bil and unbilled property sales of RM6.9bil, on top of a healthy balance sheet with a comfortable net gearing of 39%, well below its self-imposed gearing limit of 70%.
Releasing its results for the first quarter ended Oct 31 (1Q25), Gamuda’s net profit increased by 5.3% year-on-year (y-o-y) to RM205.4mil, on the back of a revenue surge of 47.5% to RM4.14bil.
The results equates to an earnings per share of 7.31 sen, up from the 7.26 sen of the same quarter of last year.
The group said the improvement was powered by stronger construction revenue from overseas and domestic projects, as total earnings from construction projects grew 20% while property earnings decreased 17% following the completion of Vietnam’s Celadon City at the end of last year.
“Overseas property earnings are expected 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,” Gamuda said in a filing with Bursa Malaysia.
Explaining further, it said quarterly construction revenue and earnings rose 38% and 20% respectively due to higher earnings contribution from overseas projects especially Australia and domestic projects such as the Penang reclamation works.
The group said overseas earnings contribute almost half of total construction earnings.
Meanwhile, property sales rose 39% to RM633mil compared with RM454mil sold in the same quarter of last year, spearheaded by several QTPs in Vietnam.
“Domestic property revenue and earnings rose 33% and 389% respectively as local townships’ sales and earnings margin grew. Overseas earnings decreased 54% following the completion of Vietnam’s Celadon City at the end of last year,” it observed.
Compared to the preceding quarter ended July 2024, the group’s net earnings decreased 25% from RM272.5mil following the completion of Vietnam’s Celadon City.
Gamuda declared a dividend of five sen per share during the quarter, a slight dip from the six sen declared last year.
On the data centre front, Gamuda said its full subsidiary Gamuda Engineering Sdn Bhd (GESB), was awarded a contract by BCEI Malaysia Sdn Bhd valued at RM451.4mil for the foundation, civil, structural and architectural works for the construction of a data centre block in Cyberjaya.
The project is set to begin in the last quarter of 2024, with completion anticipated in the first quarter of 2026.
