KUALA LUMPUR (May 20): Sunway Construction Group Bhd (KL:SUNCON), or SunCon, on Monday reported a 16.4% year-on-year (y-o-y) increase in net profit for the first quarter, thanks to higher billings in newer projects.

Net profit for the three months ended March 31, 2024 (1QFY2024) was RM32.40 million or 2.51 sen per share compared with RM27.83 million or 2.16 sen per share in the same quarter the prior year, SunCon said in an exchange filing. Revenue for the quarter rose 15.8% y-o-y to RM604.80 million from RM522.13 million.

“The group is optimistic of registering a positive growth in FY2024 supported by our strong existing outstanding order book” totalling RM6.3 billion, said group managing director Liew Kok Wing.

SunCon is actively pursuing opportunities in the construction of advanced technology facilities such as data centres, logistics warehousing facilities, and semiconductor manufacturing facilities, he said.

"We continue to make good progress in data centre projects, securing contracts totalling RM808 million in the current quarter," Liew added.

Further, the prospect for major infrastructure projects “is increasingly more promising, with the recent tender for the Penang Airport’s expansion and the proposed development of the Bayan Lepas LRT", Liew noted.

On the international front, SunCon said it had obtained a commercial operation date for the Meensurutti-Chidambaram Highway project on Feb 15, 2024, marking the successful completion of its maiden highway project in India after re-entering the market in 2020.

SunCon also plans to expand its regional presence in Asean, particularly in the advanced technology facilities sector, he said in a separate statement.

All in all, SunCon has secured RM1.72 billion in new orders in 1QFY2024, accounting for over half of its FY2024 new order book replenishment target of between RM2.5 billion and RM3.0 billion. Outstanding order book stood at RM6.3 billion.

Shares of SunCon closed up 11 sen or 3.40% on Monday at RM3.35, with a market capitalisation of RM4.33 billion.