KUALA LUMPUR: WCT Bhd, via its 50% unit Cebarco-WCT WLL, has secured a RM467 million contract involving hotel fit-out jobs for the Bahrain City Centre project.

In a statement yesterday, WCT said the contract was secured from MAF Investments Bahrain BSC, the owner of the project.

Back in August 2007 when WCT first announced that it had received the letter of intent for the project, the contract was valued at only some RM246 million. There is no real indication as to why the value of the contract has skyrocketed, by almost 90%.

WCT said the contract was expected to be concluded by Dec 16 this year. This job should nudge WCT’s RM2.9 billion order book above the RM3 billion mark, joining the ranks of IJM Corp Bhd and Gamuda Bhd.

WCT has started the year well after winning RM1.7 billion worth of contracts last year. WCT is also understood to be eyeing portions of the RM7 billion light rail transit (LRT) upgrade and extension job, and the runway portion for the new low-cost carrier terminal, among others.

For its nine months to Sept 30, 2009, WCT posted a net profit of RM114.5 million on the back of RM3.5 billion in revenue. In comparison to the corresponding period a year earlier, the net profit slipped almost 15% despite revenue rising nearly 35%.

WCT closed at RM2.62 yesterday, slipping four sen, in line with the overall market downtrend.


This article appeared in The Edge Financial Daily, February 9, 2010.