KNM Group Bhd expects a rebound in its order book next year following the market recovery seen currently.

'We have a tender book of RM16 billion currently. With the market recovery seen, we hope to convert the tenders to our order books next year,' chief executive officer Lee Swee Eng said, after concluding the company's Extraordinary General Meeting (EGM) in Kuala Lumpur today.

'More customers are willing to invest, following the recovery of the industry and a much more steady oil price,' he added.

He added to date, the company has achieved an orderbook of more than RM2 billion, including a RM680 million new material contract announced yesterday.

The new material contract is for the supply of process equipment for the development of gas condensate fields in Uzbekisatan.

'We hope next year will be better with a rebound as we are already picking up on major orders at present,' Lee said.

At the three-hour long EGM today, shareholders approved a resolution to consolidate the company's shares into one RM1 share for every four existing RM0.25 sen shares held currently.

The exercise will reduce the company's existing four billion shares to only one billion.

'The motion carried today is to help the company improve its share structure, making it easier to manage, with lesser number of shares,' Lee explained.

When asked about the prospects of privatising the company, he declined to comment on any possibilities, in the future.

The KNM Group's major customers are international oil, gas, petrochemicals, energy and mineral processing companies and global engineering contractors. -- Bernama