KUALA LUMPUR: Bursa Malaysia’s Construction Index hit one-month high at 211.08 points, a five-day winning streak since June 4, after it was announced that more than 1,000 construction companies nationwide were eyeing the 40 per cent civil works portion of the East Coast Rail Link (ECRL) project.
Prominent names like Ikhmas Jaya Group Bhd, Gabungan AQRS Bhd, Crest Builder Holdings Bhd, WCE Holdings Bhd,Gamuda Bhd, Econpile Holdings Bhd, Ekovest Bhd, IJM Corp Bhd and JAKS Resources Bhd made the gain yesterday, driving the index higher.
An analyst said investors felt that these companies could be the frontrunners to win ECRL contracts.
“Companies with good track record will secure the contracts. Investors are in a good mood after the announcement that ECRL would proceed.
“The stock prices of these companies have been on an uptrend for the past couple of weeks due to their potential of winning the ECRL contracts,” stock market analyst Nazarry Rosli said.
It was reported yesterday that Crest Builder was eyeing to bid for ECRL non-infrastructure projects such as depot stations in Negri Sembilan and Pahang.
A report quoted Crest Builder managing director Eric Yong Shang Ming as saying that the company participated in a preliminary qualification exercise in May, with the results to be announced by year-end.
ECRL project and asset owner Malaysia Rail Link Sdn Bhd (MRL) and China Communications Construction Company Ltd (CCCC) yesterday said more than 1,000 construction companies nationwide were eyeing the 40 per cent civil works portion of the RM44 billion project following a pre-qualification (Pre-Q) exercise to identify potential subcontractors.
A total of 1,321 submissions from CIDB-registered companies were received by ECRL’s main contractor CCCC, during the Pre-Q exercise on May 29 and 30.
MRL and CCCC said participation from the G7 category of CIDB-rated companies had topped the list with 859 submissions or 65 per cent.
“This was followed by the Grade G5 category with 134 submissions and Grade G4 category with 132 submissions. The remainder consisted of Grade G3 and Grade G6 with 104 submissions and 92 submissions respectively.
“Bumiputera participation was also very encouraging. The two-day ECRL Pre-Q exercise had recorded submissions of 994 Bumiputera engineering and construction companies representing 75.25 per cent of the overall registration,” it said.