WAH SEONG UPBEAT ON PROSPECTS
Company sees pick-up in business after the Nord Stream 2 project is completed later this year
WAH Seong Corp Bhd remains positive that its business will pick up speed once the Nord Stream 2 (NS2) project, involving gas pipeline coating and logistic contract in Europe, is completed later this year.
Wah Seong’s revenue for the first quarter reportedly decreased due to the weak market conditions in the construction and infrastructure sectors.
Deputy managing director Giancarlo Maccagno said the NS2 project was at 90 per cent of its execution, and the company was looking to complete the works by the end of this year.
He said following this, Wah Seong expected revenue to continue to grow.
“We can see the current order book being replaced by new contracts from renewable energy, engineering
division and our core business of pipe coating. Business for the second half of the year is is also expected to be slow, but after that we can expect it to be growing steadily.
“The Nord Stream 2 project is a huge project for our revenue so we remain positive about it (revenue),” he said at the company’s annual general meeting, here, yesterday.
Also present was the company’s chief executive officer Chan Cheu Leong.
The €600 million (RM3.23 billion) NS2 project was awarded in 2016 by Switzerland-based Nord Stream 2.
The work entails gas pipeline coating and logistics services.
Chan said the industry had never experienced such prolonged dip in the oil and gas industry, which had impacted all players. He, however, said Wah Seong managed to weather the difficult period in the last three to four years.
“We can see recovery from next year onwards. We are looking at our order book improving in the next six to 12 months.”
Meanwhile, Maccagno said that the Asia-Pacific region was the slowest for its business compared to the company's established at other parts of the world.
He said the efforts by the company to aggressively expand its business geographically in the last five years had borne fruit and managed to cover up for the slow business in Asia Pacific.
“We are the number one pipe coating company in Europe, strong in north America and even well positioned in Mexico as important coating works are coming through.
“We are now physically positioned to answer any bids and any jobs out there.
“This is why we manage to capture business and still deliver reasonable revenue at reasonable profit,” added Maccagno.