by S BIRRUNTHA / pic credit: eversendai.com

EVERSENDAI Corp Bhd’s net loss narrowed to RM3.84 million in the first quarter ended March 31, 2021 (1Q21), from RM10.14 million in the same quarter a year ago, mainly due to significant reduction in operating and administrative expenses.

In a filing to Bursa Malaysia yesterday, the group said its quarterly revenue increased to RM311.38 million from RM228.5 million a year ago, underpinned by higher progress billings from the ongoing and new projects commenced in the period under review in the energy segment, followed by India and the Middle East region.

Loss per share for the quarter narrowed to 0.49 sen from 1.30 sen previously.

The group also posted a pretax loss of RM1.25 million during the quarter from RM9.72 million a year ago.

The improvement in loss before tax by RM8.5 million or 87.6% year-on-year was primarily due to significant reduction in operating and administrative expenses of RM15.9 million or 42.4% from RM37.5 million in the previous year’s corresponding quarter to RM21.6 million in the quarter under review as an outcome of better management of expenses and cost-control actions taken.

“The reduction in loss before tax was also attributable to increase in other income mainly from sales of scrap,” the company noted in a statement yesterday.

Eversendai’s gross profit margin reduced in the period despite an increase in revenue, mainly due to underutilisation of factory capacity in the Middle East caused by Covid-19 pandemic lockdown where fixed costs could not be reduced proportionately.

Eversendai said it set off to a great start this year with an impressive orderbook worth RM1.8 billion in hand and a tender book estimated at RM11.59 billion, with interesting prospects for projects in the pipeline.

The group won two new projects in the current quarter under review worth RM51.4 million via subsidiaries in Singapore, Dubai and the United Arab Emirates.

At close yesterday, shares of Eversendai ended 2.13% higher at 24 sen, valuing the company at RM187.46 million.