IJM shares rise in early trade after securing another UK property

• IJM said it secured a 143-year leasehold interest in the historic 1-5 London Wall Buildings, rebranded as 25 Finsbury Circus, in London’s central business district and a prime commercial property in its financial core.

KUALA ALUMPUR (March 13): IJM Corp Bhd shares rose in early trade after the group expanded its United Kingdom (UK) property portfolio by acquiring a Grade II heritage office building in 25 Finsbury Circus (pictured), in London’s central business district for £72.5 million (RM407.9 million).

As of 10.51 am, IJM’s stock price edged up 8.0 sen to RM2.02 with 2.80 million shares traded.

In a filing with Bursa Malaysia on Wednesday, IJM said it secured a 143-year leasehold interest in the historic 1-5 London Wall Buildings, rebranded as 25 Finsbury Circus, in London’s central business district and a prime commercial property in its financial core.

The transaction follows an exchange of contracts with affiliates of private equity firm TPG Angelo Gordon and marks IJM’s latest expansion in the UK real estate market.

In a research note today, Kenanga Investment Bank Bhd expects a significant revitalisation of the construction sector from several public infrastructure jobs. This includes the Penang light rail transit (LRT) Package 2 and 3, flood mitigation projects and the vibrant private sector construction market, underpinned by massive investment in new semiconductor foundries and data centres.

It also said that IJM is eyeing, among others, the New Pantai Expressway expansion, the civil servant housing project in Indonesia’s Nusantara, semiconductor foundry and data centre building jobs and infrastructure projects such as Penang LRT Mutiara Line and Sarawak Sabah Link Road.

“We maintain our earnings forecasts, pending completion of the deal. Our forecasts assume job wins of RM5 billion and RM4 billion in the financial years 2025 and 2026, respectively,” it said.

It maintains an “Outperform” call with unchanged target price of RM3.00.

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