AK Nathan’s Eversendai surges 90% after bagging projects worth RM5.4bil

 

Eversendai founder AK Nathan said the company had undergone a very challenging period in the last few years. (Facebook pic)

PETALING JAYA: Things are looking up again for Eversendai Corp Bhd, whose shares surged 90% after announcing today it had snapped up four new projects worth RM5.4 billion in Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and India.

At 3.47pm, its share price jumped 9.5 sen or 46.22% to 31 sen. However, it was turbo charged in the last hour of trading, ending 18 sen or 90.24% higher at 39 sen, valuing the group at RM297.4 million.

It was the fourth most actively traded stock on Bursa Malaysia with 130.4 million shares traded.

The new projects bump its current outstanding order book to a record high of RM6.6 billion, it said in a filing with Bursa Malaysia today.

The project in Saudi Arabia is for the structural steel signature building at the Trojena Ski Village, a year-round mountain resort destination.

The project in UAE involves structural steel works for the Wynn Al Marjan Island Integrated Resort Development in Ras Al Khaimah. The project will feature a 1,500-room hotel with shopping, meeting and convention facilities, restaurants and lounges, entertainment and other amenities.

In India, its subsidiary secured two structural steel projects for the Rupa IT Building and the Rupa Crystal IT Building.

Eversendai executive chairman and group managing director AK Nathan said the newly-won contracts underscore the company’s strength and capability in securing and successfully delivering projects.

“Despite going through a very challenging period in the last few years, exasperated by Covid-19 and its related impacts, Eversendai is optimistic the group will be able to strongly rebound as a result of the record high order book, which will translate into optimum utilisation of all the group’s fabrication facilities,” he said in a statement.

Nathan, who founded the company in the 1980s, built it from a modest structural steel erection company in Malaysia into a regional integrated structural steel turnkey contractor with projects in Asean, South Asia, the Middle East and North Africa.

Eversendai has been involved in construction work for some of the world’s most iconic landmarks including the Burj Khalifa in UAE, Petronas Twin Tower 2 and Merdeka 118 Tower in Malaysia, as well as Neom Sindalah Island in Saudi Arabia.

On the road to recovery

However, it had fallen into tough times in recent years, suffering losses which saw its share price in the dumps. It fell as low as 6 sen in May last year. On Jan 2 this year, its share price was at 16 sen but has since rebounded by 144%.

Late last month, the company announced it had returned to the black in its fourth quarter ended Dec 31, 2023 (Q4 FY2023) primarily due to the progress of its projects in the Middle East and increased utilisation rates of its fabrication facilities.

For the quarter, it posted a net profit of RM57.85 million from a net loss of RM166.38 million a year ago while revenue jumped 72.5% to RM519.05 million from RM300.99 million a year earlier.

For FY2023, Eversendai returned a net profit of RM26.62 million from a net loss of RM361.52 million in FY2022. Full-year revenue increased 60.6% to RM1.45 billion from RM905.31 million.

As at Dec 31, 2023, the group’s short-term borrowings stood at RM1.03 billion, while long-term borrowings amounted to RM34.86 million, with cash and bank balances of RM128.25 million. - FMT