Gadang-Hyundai to bid for MRT tunnelling job

KUALA LUMPUR Gadang Holdings Bhd will bid for Package Five of the underground tunnelling works for the Klang Valley Mass Rapid Transit (KVMRT) Sungai Buloh-Kajang line.

Package Five is a 5.4km stretch from Taman Bukit Ria to Plaza Phoenix in Cheras.

The contract could be worth as much as RM12 billion, previous media reports suggest.

Managing director and chief executive officer Tan Sri Kok Onn said after the company's annual general meeting here yesterday that the proposal will be submitted in January next year. "We have to get at least one package," he said.

The project will be a joint venture between Gadang and Hyundai.

Gadang will face competition from Gamuda-MMC Corp, China's Sinohydro Group, China Railway Corp and Japan's Taisei Corp. These five firms have been shortlisted to bid for the contract.

Meanwhile, Kok said he is positive on the outlook of the company's current financial year mainly due to its core businesses of engineering and construction.

He said the earnings will improve if the company wins the projects it is bidding for and with the completion of its ongoing projects.

"We also expect earnings with the expected completion of the Shah Alam Hospital at the end of 2013 and the runway project at the low-cost carrier terminal in Sepang.

"We believe there will be turn- around because for the first quarter, we were in the black," he said.

For the year ended May 31 2011, Gadang recorded revenue of RM350 million.

The company suffered a pre-tax loss of RM1.2 million due mainly to the write-off of bad debts and goodwill impairment of RM11.15 million.

Package Five of KVMRT underground tunnelling works is a 5.4km stretch from Taman Bukit Ria to Plaza Phoenix in Cheras.



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Gadang expects better 2012 results

Gadang Holdings Bhd, an investment holding company, expects better performance for its current financial year from its core business of engineering and construction.

Its managing director-cum-chief executive officer, Tan Sri Kok Onn, said he
was confident earnings would improve if the company wins the projects it is
bidding on and with the completion of its ongoing projects.

He said the company is actively participating in the Sungai Buloh-Kajang
Klang Valley Mass Rapid Transit project and is confident of winning the bid.

"We also expect earnings with the expected completion of the Shah Alam
Hospital at the end of 2013 and the runway project at the Low Cost Carrier
Terminal (LCCT) in Sepang," he told reporters after the company's annual
general meeting here today.

Kok said the company will continue to replenish its engineering division
with selective construction projects that will provide margin enhancement to the company's bottom line.

"The company is also exploring water concession projects in China, Vietnam
and Indonesia, but we will focus on Indonesia because of the huge demand for
clean water while in China the water tariff is so low, it will not contribute so
much to the company," he said.

Kok said the water supply business in Indonesia will continue to provide
recurring income to the group.

For the 2011 financial year, the engineering and construction division
contributed 80 per cent to the company's revenue, with another 20 per cent
coming from the property development and water consession division, he said.

He added that despite revenue rising to RM350 million from RM270 million in
the previous financial year, the company recorded a pre-tax loss of RM1.2
million mainly to higher write-off of bad debts and goodwill impairment of
RM11.15 million. -- Bernama



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