SET-listed contractor Nawarat Patanakarn (NWR) anticipates a surge in new construction jobs from the government sector, with contracts awarded by state agencies in the second half after a new government is installed.
Pasan Swasdiburi, senior vice-president of new business and strategic planning department at NWR, said new construction jobs from the state sector were meagre in the first half because of the election next month.
"New government construction jobs are expected to pick up in the second half of the year as the new government which is set to take charge in June will accelerate budget disbursement," he said.
In the first quarter of 2023, the company secured an infrastructure project with a contract value of 50 million baht, in contrast to the same period last year when it won bids for two projects, with a combined value of 9.1 billion baht in January and February.
"We are waiting for the outcome of new bids worth a total of 29.5 billion baht, of which 70% will be from the government sector," said Mr Pasan. "The remaining 30% is from the private sector."
The company expects to secure around 15% of the new jobs which will be awarded in the second half of the year, he added.
It aims to achieve a growth of 5-10% in revenue by the end of 2023 with a higher gross margin due to the good-margin jobs in its backlog, which is currently valued at over 30 billion baht.
The company reported a net profit of 65 million baht on revenue of 13.2 billion baht in 2022, up from a net loss of 747 million baht.
The key driver, which accounted for 90% of total revenue, was revenue from construction which rose by 21% to 11.9 billion baht, while that from residential development business dropped by 39% to 415 million baht.
Gross margin in 2022 improved to 5.6% from -1.8% while net profit margin rebounded to 0.3% from -6.7%.
This year the company will spend 100-200 million baht to buy plots to develop new residential projects under a subsidiary, Mana Patanakarn.
