SARAWAK Consolidated Industries Bhd (SCIB) is seeing a blue skyline in the horizon – one that is capable of lifting its share price from the doldrums, to say the least.
With the lifting of both interstate and international travel for fully-vaxxed Malaysians being an ideal harbinger of further economic re-opening, the Kuching-based integrated civil construction service provider could have its eyes set on a bigger event – the 2022 Sarawak state election.
Formally the 12th Sarawak state election, the state election must be held on or before April 4, 2022 to elect the 19th Sarawak State Legislative Assembly. For the record, the 18th Assembly which first sat on June 7, 2016 was originally set to be dissolved automatically on June 7, 2021.
However, the declaration of a state of Emergency (Jan 12-Aug 1) to contain the spread of the COVID-19 pandemic has suspended the automatic dissolution of the legislature until the proposed end of the emergency duration on Feb 2, 2022 (only applicable to Sarawak).
As a renowned household name for its wide ranging concrete products, including prefabricated concrete elements for the industrialised building system (IBS), SCIB probably fits the bill as a potential winner in the upcoming Sarawak state election.
“We are currently operating three factories in Kuching – one in the Pending Industrial Estate and two at the Demak Laut Industrial Park,” SCIB’s CEO Rosland Othman told FocusM.
“The election play is probably a temporary booster but what is more pertinent is that when the economy gradually re-opens, projects will start to be rolled out and we can be back on track to execute our businesses in the manner we did during the pre-pandemic days.”
While the Sarawak state election is easily six months away, SCIB should – for the immediate term – be eyeing the various construction and infrastructure projects to dished out under the forthcoming Budget 2022 (to be tabled on Oct 29).
“Backed by our experience and expertise, we are ever keen to take up a bigger role in government-related projects in the construction sector,” enthused Rosland.
In recent times, SCIB has spread its wings to Peninsular Malaysia after being linked to mega infrastructure projects valued at RM22 bil in Sarawak.
Thus far in 2021, the group has managed to secure few projects in Peninsular Malaysia related to Pr1ma Corp Malaysia, Perumahan Penjawat Awam Malaysia (PPAM) and road maintenance contracts in Kuala Terengganu.
More recently, SCIB has been awarded a RM13 mil project for the upgrading of poor schools (sekolah daif) in both the Peninsular and Sarawak.
“This may not be a big sum but more of displaying our prowess as a trustworthy contractor,” enthused Rosland. “Our current order book which focuses primarily on the construction sector stands at RM1.6 bil … we will resume the execution of our order book expeditiously with the lifting of travel restrictions while awaiting the outcome from the RM2.4 bil worth of future projects that we’ve tendered domestically and abroad.”
At the close of yesterday’s (Oct 12) trading, SCIB was up 7.5 sen or 17.44% to 50.5 sen with 45.92 million shares traded, thus valuing the company at RM266 mil. – Oct 13, 2021
