PETALING JAYA: WCT Holdings Bhd, an engineering, construction and property company, recorded a three-digit jump in its net profit for its first quarter ended March 31, due to healthy margin growth.

WCT’s net profit for the quarter shot up by 276% to RM33.1mil from RM8.8mil a year ago.

This was despite revenue being marginally lower at RM473.4mil for the quarter under review compared to RM485mil recorded in the same quarter the last financial year.

This is reflective of the group’s ability to derive better margins from projects undertaken by its construction division.

Basic earnings per share for the financial quarter ended was at 2.64 sen, a significant increase from 0.72 sen for the corresponding quarter a year ago.

Net assets per share also rose from RM2.19 last year to RM2.21 as at March 31, 2017.

WCT group managing director Datuk Lee Tuck Fook in a statement yesterday said: “We are happy to start our 2017 financial year on a strong and positive note. Clearly, our continued focus to strengthen our construction margin has contributed to our performance for the quarter under review.

“As we move forward, we aim to remain focused on our efforts to improve the overall margins from our construction business by pursuing higher margin infrastructure related jobs and selective specialised building projects to add on to the group’s outstanding order book which stood at RM4.8bil.

“For our property development division, we will further intensify our marketing efforts and fine tune product delivery to increase property sales.

“Meanwhile, our property investment and management division is expected to continue to provide a stable income stream to the group,” he said.

This year, Lee said the company would be adding new assets into its investment properties portfolio as it targeted to complete and open Paradigm Mall Johor Baru in Johor and New World Hotel here for business.

“All in all, we are cautiously optimistic as WCT is currently on track to deliver satisfactory results for the financial year ended Dec 31, 2017,” said Lee.

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