Ley Choon surges 15% as investors positive on construction upturn

SHARES of construction and engineering company Ley Choon jumped on Thursday (Jan 23) morning, after The Business Times reported that the stock is worth watching as the company is set to ride the construction upturn.

When the market opened, the counter rose 14.6 per cent or S$0.007 to S$0.055, with about 2.5 million shares changing hands. The last time it traded at such levels was in July 2024.

By 10.02 am, Ley Choon remained one of the top-traded counters by volume. Its shares were up 12.5 per cent or S$0.006 at S$0.054, with 9.5 million shares transacted.

No married deals were recorded in early trade, based on ShareInvestor data.

BT reported that Ley Choon might be a stock to watch for investors as the company has repaired its finances and appears to be on the way to better fortunes.

The Catalist-listed group announced on Jan 15 that four of its subsidiaries bagged a total of S$131.5 million for the supply and installation of underground utilities services as well as road reinstatement works.

These projects should be completed within 24 to 36 months, Ley Choon added.

While the new contracts are not expected to have any material impact on the group’s earnings per share and net tangible assets per share for the financial year ending March, they should boost its order book.

Ley Choon’s outstanding order book stood at S$220.1 million as at November, when the group reported its mid-year financials.

Although it posted only a 2.5 per cent year-on-year rise in revenue to S$64.4 million for the period ended September, its earnings were up 35.9 per cent to S$7.3 million, as finance costs shrank by 74.2 per cent.

Now with a clean slate, Ley Choon no longer has debt on its books. Its cash pile was S$3.5 million as at end-September.