Gamuda pays five sen dividend as 1Q profit climbs 5%; order book hits record RM30b

• The group saw earnings improvements in its construction business — both domestic and overseas — as well as its domestic property development operations.

KUALA LUMPUR (Dec 12): Gamuda Bhd (KL:GAMUDA) reported that its net profit climbed 5.31% in the August-October quarter as revenue jumped on improved contributions from all segments. It also achieved a record high order book of RM30 billion.

Net profit for the quarter ended Oct 31, 2024 (1QFY2025) rose to RM205.39 million from RM195.04 million in the same quarter last year, while revenue rose 47.47% to RM4.14 billion from RM2.8 billion, its bourse filing on Thursday showed. The revenue increase was partly offset by a 62% rise in finance costs to RM60.6 million, and a 64% drop in share of profit from joint ventures to RM11.53 million.

The group declared a first interim dividend of five sen per share, post one-for-one bonus issue, to be paid on a date to be fixed.

The group saw earnings improvements in its construction business — both domestic and overseas — as well as its domestic property development operations. Overseas construction earnings grew 10% to RM72.12 million from RM65.33 million, while profit from domestic construction increased 32% to RM69.36 million from RM52.61 million; its domestic property development's earnings more than quadrupled to RM31.3 million from RM6.4 million.

But these were partly offset by a drop in earnings at its overseas property development business, with segmental profit more than halving from RM70.71 million to RM32.61 million following the completion of the Celadon City in Vietnam.

“Nonetheless, overseas property earnings are expected to rise as building progress picks up at all recently launched quick-turnaround-projects (QTPs) including Vietnam’s Eaton Park Phase 1 which was fully sold within a week of its launch,” Gamuda said.

Gamuda said its performance in the coming quarters would largely be driven by construction activities, underpinned by its RM30 billion orderbook, while unbilled property sales stood at RM6.9 billion.

The group secured RM6.7 billion worth of construction contracts in 1QFY2025, comprising the RM3.2 billion Xizhi Donghu Mass Rapid Transit Construction turnkey project, the RM2.3 billion Ulu Padas Hydroelectric Project, the RM700 million Boulder Creek Wind Farm and the RM500 million Cyberjaya data centre.

“On top of that, the group has a healthy balance sheet with a comfortable net gearing of 39%, well below its self-imposed gearing limit of 70%,” it said.

Shares in Gamuda rose three sen or 0.31% to close at RM9.60 on Thursday, valuing the group at RM27.24 billion.

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