By S BIRRUNTHA

GAMUDA Bhd’s net profit for the second quarter ended Jan 31, 2021 (2Q21), fell 30% year-on-year (YoY) to RM123.12 million from RM175.17 million profit it made in the same period last year due to uncertainties caused by Covid-19.

Quarterly revenue shrank 18% YoY to RM895.41 million.

In a filing to Bursa Malaysia yesterday, the diversified group noted its financial performance continued to be resilient despite the reimposition of movement restrictions in most parts of Malaysia during this quarter.

“The pace of construction and property projects are returning to pre-movement restrictions level due to the group’s rigorous Covid-19 measures at all work fronts,” it said.

Loss per share for the period was 4.9 sen against 7.07 sen earnings per share recorded a year earlier.

Gamuda noted its property sales jumped by 50% YoY for the quarter, which continued to spearhead the group’s property division by contributing two-thirds of overall sales.

It added that the increase in sales was driven by overseas sales especially in Vietnam and Singapore.

Its property division sold RM1.5 billion worth of properties in the first half of the year compared to RM1 billion in the same period last year.

For the cumulative period of six- month ended Jan 31, 2021 (1H21), Gamuda’s net profit fell 33% YoY to RM232.4 million, while revenue shrank 24% YoY to RM1.66 billion.

Gamuda anticipates this year’s performance will be driven by its overseas property sales in Vietnam and Singapore and the continued progress of mass rapid transit (MRT) Putrajaya Line (formerly called MRT Line 2).

The company added that its resilience is underpinned by its construction orderbook of RM5.5 billion and unbilled property sales totalling RM3.6 billion which will see it through the next two years.

On top of that, the group stated it has a healthy balance sheet with a prudent gearing of 0.3 time.

At close yesterday, Gamuda’s shares ended six sen or 1.66% lower at RM3.55, giving it a market capitalisation of RM8.92 billion.