KUALA LUMPUR, March 23 — Gamuda Bhd’s net profit for the second quarter ended January 31, 2022 (Q2FY2022) rose to RM177.13 million from RM123.24 million a year ago supported by the better earnings in the construction and property divisions.

Revenue increased to RM1.29 billion from RM895.41 million as works on all fronts picked up the pace while earnings per share increased to 7.05 sen from 4.90 sen, it said in a filing with Bursa Malaysia today.

"The ongoing risks to the country’s economic and fiscal outlook posed by the progression of the Covid-19 pandemic and uncertainties surrounding the Delta and now Omicron variants have dampened economic activity.

"Public spending and stimulus for infrastructure development constrained by rising government fiscal burden may see some momentum with the government’s revival of public-private partnerships (PPP 3.0),” it said.

It said this year’s performance is anticipated to be driven by overseas and local property sales and the continued progress of Mass Rapid Transit (MRT) Putrajaya Line, formerly called MRT Line 2.

Moving forward, it said the resilience of the company is underpinned by its construction order book, which tripled to RM10.4 billion following its successful bids for the A$2.16 billion (RM6.8 billion) Sydney Metro West-Western Tunnelling Package in Australia and the S$467 million (RM1.4 billion) Defu station and tunnels project in Singapore.

It added that on top of that, Gamuda has unbilled property sales totalling RM5.2 billion and a healthy balance sheet with a low gearing of 0.2 times coupled with a strong cash position. — Bernama