Eversendai confident of hitting RM2b target

> Specialist structural steel contractor has clinched RM1.53b worth of jobs so far this year

KUALA LUMPUR: Specialist structural steel contractor Eversendai Corp Bhd, which has bagged RM1.53 billion worth of contracts in the past eight months, is confident it will reach the RM2 billion mark by the end of the year.

“There are few more projects in the pipeline. We are confident that it will surpass the RM2 billion mark before the end of this year,” its executive chairman and group managing director Tan Sri A.K. Nathan ( pix) told reporters at a press conference here yesterday.

“Therefore, we are confident that we will achieve our RM2 billion revenue target by end of 2017,” he added.

Nathan said the awarded contracts include the structural design, fabrication and erection of steel structures for the Blue Water-Dubai Eye metro station in Dubai; Lot 91 Kuala Lumpur City Centre in Malaysia and Marathon Futurex II, DLF IT Park Phase III and Statue of Unity in India.

To date, he said, Eversendai has a tender book of RM20 billion, of which RM9 billion is for structural steel and construction projects and RM11 billion for oil and gas jobs.

As at June this year, the group’s outstanding order book stood at RM2.4 billion, which will keep it busy for the next two years.

“With increased job opportunities, we are happy to have secured these contracts, which proves that Eversendai remains a strong player in the industry,” he said, adding that the group’s strength lies in its good track record, skilled workforce and established management.

For the second quarter ended June 30, 2016, Eversendai recorded a net loss of RM21.3 million, compared with a net profit of RM14.1 million in the same period last year, mainly due to a loss on fair value of assets of RM101.7 million and unrealised foreign exchange loss of RM9 million. Nathan said the loss was mainly due to impairments for its investment in Singapore-listed Technics Oil & Gas Ltd, which has lost more than half of its value.

However, he said the group can return to the black in the third quarter of this year, with the writing-off of the investment already completed.

“We started the write-off from last year and we are going to move forward and looking at a brighter future. In fact, I see a lot of great opportunities coming out in the oil and gas sector,” he added.

Eversendai bought an 11.19% stake in the oil and gas company in November 2012 and eventually increased its share to nearly 30%.