GAMUDA'S PROJECTS IN TAIWAN UNAFFECTED BY EARTHQUAKE - RHB IB

KUALA LUMPUR, April 4 (Bernama) -- Gamuda Bhd's projects in Taiwan are unaffected by the earthquake that hit Hualien County yesterday, said RHB Investment Bank Bhd (RHB IB).

The research firm said the construction sites of Gamuda’s projects are far away from Hualien County, at least 200 kilometres from the epicentre.

“There was no major impact coming from the earthquake as the respective sites of Gamuda only felt a four to 4.5 magnitude on the Richter scale, which is considered to be a light earthquake that can be felt but generally causes no damage,” it said in a research note today.

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RHB IB said that as of end-January, Taiwan jobs consist of RM4.5 billion from six contracts or 19 per cent of Gamuda's RM24 billion outstanding order book.

Of the six ongoing jobs in Taiwan, rail-related projects have a completion rate of one per cent and below, indicating that major works such as tunnelling may not have commenced, said the firm. 

It said the rail projects include the Kaohsiung MRT (RM3 billion with an 88 per cent effective share) secured in October 2023, and the TaoYuan City Underground Railway project (RM1.3 billion with 60 per cent effective share) clinched in October 2022. 

Other Gamuda jobs in Taiwan comprise mainly structures such as sea wall reclamation, marine bridges and their extensions which are 75 per cent to 90 per cent completed as of January 2024.

Meanwhile, the research house has maintained the 'buy' stance on Gamuda with a target price of RM6.30.

However, it said a key risk includes slower-than-expected job replenishment from overseas.

As of 12.30 pm, Gamuda's share price rose six sen to RM5.32 with 2.18 million shares traded on Bursa Malaysia. 

-- BERNAMA