KUALA LUMPUR (April 24): Shares of construction and engineering contractor Crest Builder Holdings Bhd climbed on Wednesday after bagging a RM486 million condominium project in Mont Kiara.

The counter climbed as much as 6.5% to a high of 49 sen during Wednesday’s morning session. At 9.28am, it pared gains to 47.5 sen — still up 1.5 sen or 3.26% — valuing the group at RM83.16 million. Trading volume rose to 267,700 shares, more than double Tuesday’s volume of 108,500 shares.

No institutional analysts cover the stock.

Crest Builder told Bursa Malaysia on Tuesday that the project, which was awarded by Kiaramas Development Sdn Bhd, involves the construction of three blocks of condominiums with car park podiums in Jalan Desa Kiara and a 42-month contract period starting from May 2.

Last month, the group secured a RM448.5 million contract for the Sunway Velocity 3 commercial development in Kuala Lumpur, awarded by Sunway Velocity Three Sdn Bhd.

The Yong family is Crest Builder's largest shareholder with a 43.23% stake via their private vehicle SC Yong Holdings Sdn Bhd. The group was founded by the late Yong Soon Chow. His son Yong Shang Ming is currently the managing director of the group, while his spouse Koh Hua Lan is an executive director.

On the financial front, the group’s performance has been lacklustre since the financial year ended Dec 31, 2020 (FY2020).

For FY2023, Crest Builder saw its net loss swell to RM38.95 million from RM14.95 million for the previous year, dragged by impairment losses on receivables and contract assets. This was despite revenue climbing 47% to RM508.63 million from RM346.08 million, on the back of revenue from the construction and property development divisions.

The group's short-term investment, fixed deposits with licensed banks and cash and bank balances stood at RM75.13 million as at end-December, while short-term borrowings amounted to RM234.38 million.

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Crest Builder bags RM486m condominium project in Mont Kiara