January 14, 2020 Malaysia Construction POSITIVE [Upgrade] Improving optics Analyst U/G to POSITIVE Near-term sector re-rating catalyst would be the formalization of the Adrian Wong, CFA PTMP PDP agreement, allowing the Bayan Lepas LRT to officially roll-out. (603) 2297 8675 Job awards are also expected to gradually pick up in 2020 with the ECRL
[email protected] subcontracting works in focus. While the KL-SG HSR and KVMRT 3 remain wildcards at this juncture, any announcement of their revival in 2020 will excite the market. We are upbeat on the sector’s outlook in 2020; U/G to POSITIVE with Gamuda as our preferred BUY pick. 2020: Job awards to pick up Construction We expect the value of new job awards to gradually pick up in 2020 with the ECRL subcontracting packages in focus. With the 3-month long public display of the realignment of the Kota Bahru-Dungun stretch set to complete by Feb 2020, we believe tenders for the subcontracting civil work packages could start by 2Q20 with awards in 2H20. We also expect awards of the remaining packages from the on-going projects in East Malaysia such as the Pan Borneo Sabah Highway, Sarawak Coastal and Second Link Road (details of projects in Fig 9) in 2020. Malaysia 2020: PTMP close to fruition The Penang State Government had, in Oct 2019, received a Federal Government Guarantee to raise bonds to fund the Bayan Lepas LRT (e.MYR8b), which will expedite the start of the Penang Transport Master Plan (PTMP) project. Assuming the Project Delivery Partner (PDP) agreement is finalized within 1Q20, we could see the first awards by end- 2020.