SunCon kicks off FY22 with stronger 1Q profit on improved construction margin

KUALA LUMPUR (May 26): Sunway Construction Group Bhd’s (SunCon) net profit for the first quarter ended March 31, 2022 (1QFY22) jumped 70.54% to RM34.52 million from RM20.24 million in the same period last year, mainly due to its construction segment’s increased profit margin.

Earnings per share rose to 2.68 sen from 1.57 sen last year, according to the construction firm’s bourse filing. Revenue grew 37.23% to RM624.66 million from RM455.2 million, on improved contributions from both its construction and precast businesses. No dividend was declared.

Its construction business reported a 39.5% rise in revenue to RM587.8 million from RM421.3 million, as operations normalised in line with the easing of Covid-19 restrictions. This led to a 95% jump in profit before tax to RM46.2 million from RM23.7 million, as margin rose to 7.9% — due to the final account for completed projects — from 5.6%.

Meanwhile, the group’s precast segment reported an 8.9% increase in revenue to RM36.9 million from RM33.9 million, as a result of a higher outstanding order book. However, the segment's PBT fell 71.4% to RM1 million from RM3.5 million due to the impact of higher steel bar prices, which reduced the segment’s PBT margin to 2.7% from 10.3%.

The construction firm noted that its outstanding order book stands at RM4.4 billion compared with RM4.8 billion in December 2021, with RM265.6 million worth of new orders secured up to March 2022.

SunCon managing director Liew Kok Wing said the group is “cautiously optimistic” that it is well positioned to register commendable growth in this financial year based on its existing order book.

“We are actively pursuing opportunities in the private and public sectors, including private funding initiative projects.

“We believe that we are well positioned to participate in the tender for any large infrastructure projects based on the group’s solid financial position and strong track record locally and abroad in highway projects as well as urban rail transit projects, such as MRT (mass rapid transit) 1 & 2, LRT (light rail transit) 2 & 3 and BRT (bus rapid transit),” he added.

SunCon shares closed one sen or 0.64% higher at RM1.58 on Wednesday, valuing the group at RM2.04 billion.

Edited by Tan Choe Choe

Get the latest news @ www.EdgeProp.my

Subscribe to our Telegram channel for the latest stories and updates

Click here for more property stories