WCT submits bids to boost recurring income

KUALA LUMPUR: WCT Bhd has submitted bids for local public infrastructure related concessionaires as part of its strategy to beef up its investment and management division and boost long-term recurring income.

WCT has three main divisions, namely engineering and construction, property development as well as investment and management.

“We submitted the bids early last month, we’re not sure when the outcome will be made known,” manager (corporate affairs) Kenny Wong told a press conference held in conjunction with Invest Malaysia here.

“However, if we are successful in getting a concessionaire, this will be our fourth,” Wong added.

WCT has three concessions now, two of which are in India.

Locally, it has a 25-year build-operate-transfer concession for the KLIA-2 Integrated Complex which was recently awarded.

Currently, 15% of WCT’s operating profit comes from its investment and management business. By 2016, Wong said he expected this to increase to 25%.

He said WCT was currently bidding for some RM5bil worth of engineering and construction contracts, with 50% of the tenders submitted being for overseas jobs and the remainder in Malaysia.

Of the RM5bil, the company expects to win some RM1bil worth of jobs.

Last month, WCT chairman Datuk Ahmad Sufian said WCT had an outstanding construction order book of RM3.3bil, with half of the amount comprising projects in Malaysia and the balance in the Gulf Cooperation Council region. “This will last us for the next two to three years,” he said then.

Wong said WCT was still looking to acquire land in Johor, Kota Kinabalu, Penang, and the Klang Valley.

“We are in a good position to do this as our balance sheet is strong with some RM800mil in cash,” he said.

WCT’s remaining undeveloped landbank is about 1,000 acres. It recently launched the Paradigm Mall in Kelana Jaya, Petaling Jaya.

The mall is part of a 12-acre mixed development by the group. The other components of the development will comprise office towers, serviced apartments and a 350-room hotel which will be developed over the next few years.