Overseas jobs to drive growth for MTD ACPI

BATU CAVES: MTD ACPI Engineering Bhd, which foresees tough times ahead in the construction industry in Malaysia with the absence of new mega projects, expects overseas contribution to be the main driver for turning around the company financially, said its president cum CEO Datuk Azmil Khalili.
Contrary to general concensus of there being a construction "boom" in the country, Azmil believes that construction firms' margins have come under pressure as a result of competitiveness on the local front.
"It will be a tough year, the market is very competitive, no real big mega projects that we can see in the horizon," he said, adding that the stiff competition would lead to thinner margins.
Azmil is of the view that infrastructure projects in Malaysia are not enough to sustain the growth of all construction firms even with the approval of the Mass Rapid Transit (MRT) Line 2, making it necessary for MTD ACPI to expand more aggressively overseas.
"Malaysia still remains the target market, but we have to expand our horizon and go overseas," he told reporters after the company's AGM here yesterday.
MTD ACPI is already active in markets such as Saudi Arabia, Oman, Qatar, the United Arab Emirates (UAE), Sri Lanka, Singapore, Indonesia and the Philippines.
MTD ACPI, the construction arm of MTD Capital, has an order book of RM700 million which should keep it busy until the end of 2015.
"We've (taken to proposing projects now more than tendering), they (the parent company) proposed the project to the government and clients, and (when) they get it, (the projects) will come to the construction arm," he said.
Despite the bulk of the profits coming from the local market currently, Azmil expects the group to rake in more profit from the overseas markets moving forward, particularly riding on MTD Capital Bhd's business activities in Indonesia and the Middle East.
For the first quarter ended June 30, 2014 MTD ACPI fell into the red with a net loss of RM2.12 million compared with a net profit of RM701,000 in the previous corresponding period, mainly due to losses in a joint venture company.
For the financial year ended March 31, 2014 it posted a net loss of RM100.79 million, on the back of a one-off impairment of goodwill and property, plant and equipment.