Sapphire's Ranken wins S$81m Taiyuan rail infrastructure project

SAPPHIRE Corporation's newly acquired rail engineering specialist, Ranken Infrastructure Limited, has secured a fresh RMB373 million (S$81 million) contract in Taiyuan City, Shanxi province; bringing the total value of new orders recently won to RMB1.3 billion.

The project involves designing and developing part of the Taiyuan Metro-Line 2, the city's first metro line. More specifically, Ranken will construct 1.6km of the 23.4km metro line, including two tunnels and the Xijianhe Station. The project connects three train stations - Kuangji, the Small Commodities Bazaar and Xijianhe - and is expected to be completed within 30 months.

Teh Wing Kwan, group CEO and managing director of Sapphire, said: "The speed with which we have secured another new and sizeable project in Taiyuan underscores Ranken's successful track record and increasing reach across China. We will continue to strengthen our foothold in the country's fast-growing rail sector."

The new orders are expected to have a positive impact on the group's earnings per share and net asset value per share for the financial year ending Dec 31 2016, as well as 2017.