KUALA LUMPUR: Crest Builder Holdings Bhd is keen to participate in the civil works of the revived East Coast Rail Link (ECRL) project.
Crest Builder managing director Eric Yong Shang Ming said his team had submitted application to pre-qualify for civil work packages to build the 640-km double tracked rail network that runs from Kelantan through Terengganu, Pahang, Negeri Sembilan to Selangor.
"We've the expertise to bid to build stations and depot for the ECRL project," Ooi told reporters after the company’s annual general meeting here today.
Also present were his sister Yong Tiok Keng, who is Crest Builder executive director and Crest Builder Sdn Bhd chief executive officer Teh Hock Hua.
Yong's revelation is aligned with a separate joint statement today issued by Malaysia Rail Link Sdn Bhd (MRL) and China Communications Construction Company Ltd (CCCC) saying that they had received 1,321 submissions from Construction Industry Development Board-registered contractors for the pre-qualification stage of the ECRL.
In that same statement, CCC (ECRL) Sdn Bhd managing director Bai Yinzhan promised Malaysian local contractors would benefit from the sharing of knowledge and technology that seeks to maximize the commercial impact of the Malaysian government's investment.
To date, Crest Builder's unbilled orderbook amounted to RM1 billion.
Yong said earlier this year his team had secured RM100 million worth of new construction jobs.
He is hopeful of securing another RM500 million worth of jobs by year-end.
Last year, Crest Builder's profits more than doubled to a record RM70.38 million from RM28.06 million in 2017.
This is on the back of RM595.51 million in revenue, a 19.49 per cent jump from RM498.29 million. More than half of its 2018's profits came from property development.
"This year's earnings will see more contribution from our construction arm as we see slow progress in the overall property market,” he said, adding that Crest Builders's Shah Alam property development 'The Greens' is now almost fully taken up.
Several of Crest Builder's projects’ target launches have been delayed due to realignment and re-zoning.
The target dates of three of its retail, residential and office projects – Latitude 8 in Dang Wangi, the MRB project at Jalan Ampang and the Kelana Jaya LRT area in Kelana Jaya – have all been revised to suit conditions of the property market.
The gross development value for the three projects totals RM3.43 billion.
On its dividend policy, Yong said that starting this year, the company would pay out 20 per cent of net profits to shareholders.