Sunway expects record profits for fiscal 2010

Saturday, March 20, 2010


Sunway expects record profits for fiscal 2010


SUNWAY Holdings expects record profits in fiscal 2010 as it plans to tender for jobs worth up to RM16 billion globally, said a top executive.

The firm, ranked seventh among local builders with a market value of US$268 million, (RM884.4 million) said its construction orderbook is expected to grow by one-third to RM4 billion this year, partly boosted by the Malaysian government's roll-out of public sector contracts.

"Market conditions have improved over the last six months and we are confident of securing some projects that we have tendered locally," managing director Yau Kok Seng said in an interview yesteday.

Malaysia is planning a new low-cost carrier terminal (LCCT) that will cost RM2 billion to build.
Sunway has submitted its tenders for some of the LCCT jobs and Yau expects the winning bids to be announced as soon as this month.

Other large-scale infrastructure projects that will likely be implemented this year include a RM7 billion light railway transit project near the Malaysian capital as well as a water treatment plant and water transfer projects in Pahang, said Yau.

Construction is the largest revenue earner for Sunway, accounting for over half of the total. Quarrying, building materials, property development as well as trading and manufacturing make up for the rest.

Overseas operations, which comprise mainly the construction and property development projects in China, Singapore and the Middle East, account for 80 per cent of its pre-tax profit, the company said.

In China, Sunway operates through Hong Kong incorporated Sunway Global, a four-year old partnership with global investment bank Goldman Sachs. Goldman owns a 24 per cent of Sunway Global.

Sunway shares were up 2.72 per cent at the close of the early trading session yesterday. The stock has risen 16 per cent so far this year, outpacing the construction sector index's gain of 4.6 per cent.

By Reuters