UEM Edgenta eyes double-digit growth
PETALING JAYA: UEM Edgenta Bhd is confident of achieving double-digit growth this year through continued focus on its healthcare and technology investment divisions, says managing director and chief executive officer Datuk Azmir Merican.
He said a lot of work had been put in to make the organisation stronger and fitter to hunt, secure and deliver the jobs.
“We are also looking at how we can enhance our margins by applying our LEAN programme, which is to help build capabilities across the company via process improvements and training, as well as technology and innovation-centric programmes to tackle highimpact operational areas,” he told reporters after the company’s annual general meeting yesterday.
UEM Edgenta, which provides hospital support and highway maintenance services, recorded a 21.8 per cent jump in after-tax profit from continuing operations to RM152.4 million for the financial year ended Dec 31, 2018, while revenue rose 3.3 per cent to RM2.18 billion.
Azmir noted the healthcare support division would continue to be the company’s strongest growth engine as it strived to increase its market share in Singapore.
Meanwhile, in Taiwan, the Main Market-listed company is targeting growth by upselling new services to existing customers.
On the home front, he said, UEM Edgenta was strategically looking into cross-selling and capitalising on the synergies among its business divisions.
The group currently has RM13.1 billion worth of jobs in hand.
“For the healthcare business, we are looking at a five-year outlook while some of our other businesses will take longer, up to a 20-year outlook.
“We are currently bidding for projects. In the pipeline, we have (tenders) under the healthcare division and we feel we should be able to replenish more,” he said, adding that some of the jobs secured were through bidding and some via direct negotiations. In the international market, for example, the company was actively seeking new jobs in India in biomedical equipment management, Azmir said.
He said the company’s revenue was mainly derived from the healthcare and infrastructure divisions but the consultancy division, which contributed about five per cent last year, was expected to improve its contribution on the back of the government’s commitment to proceed with the Pan Borneo Highway project in Sabah and Sarawak.
“This will be further supported by the Klang Valley Double Tracking and the Sarawak Coastal Network and Second Trunk Road projects as well as potential new projects, with significant funds being set aside by the Federal and state governments of Sabah and Sarawak for development and infrastructure projects,” he added. — Bernama
For the healthcare business, we are looking at a five-year outlook while some of our other businesses will take longer, up to a 20-year outlook. Datuk Azmir Merican