Thursday, July 22, 2010

UEM Group eyes KL MRT job

UEM Group Bhd is keen to bid for the RM43 billion KL MRT project, said Group Managing Director cum Chief Executive Officer Datuk Izzadin Idris.

"Apparently, the project is to be undetaken by way of tender. If it is open for us to tender, why not," he said when asked if the group was eyeing the project.

However, since the viability of the project is still being determined, it was too premature to talk about it, said Izzadin at a press conference after unveiling the group's five years roadmap here today.

The KL MRT project is a key project in the 10th Malaysia Plan.

UEM Group Bhd is targeting a revenue of RM30 billion and a net profit after tax and minority interests of RM3 billion by 2015, said Chief Executive Officer Datuk Izzadin Idris.

The group reported a revenue of RMR8.2 billion in 2009.

"The target revenue is a stretched one, but if you look in our core businesses, the potential is there. We are aiming for the sky," he said when unveiling UEM Group''s targets here today.
Izzadin said the group hoped to derive 45 per cent of its revenue from overseas operations and aspired to become a global player by 2015.

He said the group would implement a five-year strategic plan for its core competencies and streamline operations to become a more focused and holistic engineering-based conglomerate.

The company will concentrate on four core businesses of building expressways, townships and property development, engineering and construction, asset and facility management.

Owned by the government''s investment arm, the UEM Group has controlling stakes in PLUS Expressways Bhd, property developer UEM Land Holdings Bhd, technology solutions company Time Engineering Bhd and Faber Group Bhd.

It will work towards strengthening its position and continue its foray abroad especially into Brunei, Indonesia, India and the Middle East.

As of July 16, UEM Group's construction order stood at RM3.7 billion and the company was focused on delivering several key projects including a housing project in Brunei, the Penang Second Bridge and the Pahang-Selangor Raw Water Transfer project.

"Work on the bridge is on schedule. We are happy with the progress and the project can be delivered as scheduled," said Izzadin.

The group, he added, would continue to form partnerships with other construction and infrastructure players to bid for overseas projects.

As for PLUS, he said it would continue to focus on India and Indonesia given the fact these countries were building infrastructure networks to cater for high economic growth rates and rising population.

"The expressways provides the group with steady cash flow," he said.

Izzadin also disclosed UEM was blacklisted for sometime in India as it's counterpart there failed to complete a project in Northern India.

"The non-performance contractor status has been removed now and we are in a good position to bid for construction projects under the National Highway Authority of India," he said.

Asked about the group's cash flow, Izzadin said the UEM Group had RM500 million cash in its coffers and a low gearing ratio of 1.2 times.

"We also have bank facilities on standby," he added.

Hence, Izzadin said there were no plans yet to re-list the company or raise capital but he did not rule out the possibility in future. -- Bernama

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