KUALA LUMPUR: Engineering, property and infrastructure outfit Gamuda Bhd’s net profit bumped up 23.1% year-on-year to RM205.89 million in its fourth quarter ended July (4QFY14), lifted by higher contributions from its property, water and expressway divisions.

Revenue in the quarter fell 7.64% to RM592 million from RM640.9 million in 4QFY13, but earnings per share improved 19.33% to 8.89 sen from 7.45 sen, according to a filing with Bursa Malaysia yesterday.

Gamuda said the drop in revenue was due to the substantial completion of the electrified double-tracking railway project.

For its full-year (FY14) results, the group raked in a net profit of RM719.4 million, up 33% from RM540.9 million a year ago on higher contributions from its construction and property division. Revenue in FY14, however, was flat at RM2.23 billion, compared with RM2.24 billion in FY13.

The group said it is anticipating a good performance next year from ongoing construction projects, substantial unbilled sales in the property division, and steady earnings from the water and expressway concession divisions.

Gamuda, which is also the project delivery partner for the Klang Valley Mass Rapid Transit project (KVMRT) through MMC Gamuda KVMRT (PDP) Sdn Bhd, said the project’s progress as at end-August 2014 was 52% completed, while its underground works package had achieved certified progress of 67%.

“The project is on target for Phase 1 completion in December 2016 and full completion by July 2017, with no significant cost overruns so far,” said the construction company.

On the electrified double-tracking railway project, Gamuda said the project’s cumulative progress — also as at end-August 2014 — was 99.8% completed, with full completion expected by Nov 7 this year.

The property division achieved record sales of RM1.81 billion in FY14 compared with RM1.76 billion in FY13. Its unbilled sales at the end of the quarter were RM1.7 billion.

Gamuda said traffic volumes of its various expressways have been stable and resilient.

It owns a 40% stake in Syarikat Pengeluar Air Sungai Selangor Sdn Bhd, which had rejected the Selangor  government’s offer to take over its water assets in March this year. 

 “There are no recent developments but we are anticipating discussions to start with the state government,” it noted in the filing.

Gamuda’s counter closed one sen or 0.21% lower at RM4.81 yesterday, translating to a market capitalisation of RM11.18 billion.

This article first appeared in The Edge Financial Daily, on September 30, 2014.