INFRASTRUCTURE engineering specialist Lum Chang Holdings Group (LCH) has clinched a windfall $452 million Land Transport Authority (LTA) Mass Rapid Transit project that will almost double its order book.
The project is for the design and construction of the Bukit Panjang MRT Station along the Downtown Line Stage 2, which will be located along Upper Bukit Timah Road at the junction of Bukit Panjang and Choa Chu Kang Road/Woodlands Road, and the 'cut and cover' tunnels connecting the Bukit Panjang Station to a depot at Gali Batu.
This latest contract - LCH's single largest to date - will boost the mainboard-listed company's order book from some $563 million to more than $1 billion. It will also keep the company busy through the next six years.
While this project will not have a material impact on the final results of LCH for the financial year ending June 30, 2009, it will see LCH's topline boosted by an additional $80 million every year well into 2015.
This is on top of various other projects it is already currently involved in, including its $322 million joint-venture project with Japanese multinational engineering firm Nishimatsu on the MRT Circle Line Stage 2, its $83 million Twenty Anson project, and its $150 million Changi Business Park Phase I and II projects.
Infrastructure engineering players like Lum Chang have emerged as key players as the Singapore government prepares to spend up to $20 billion on public sector construction this year, on projects like the Downtown MRT Line, Marina Coastal Expressway, Sports Hub, a new cruise liner terminal, parks in the Marina Bay area, new HDB estates and upgrading of existing estates, water and drainage projects, schools and such.
Another $17 billion will be spent annually on public sector construction in 2010 and 2011.
Lum Chang is now preparing to bid for several of the 20 project packages on the Downtown 3 Line, running from the City to Changi Expo.
Work on this latest contract is expected to start later this month, with a targeted completion date in 2015.
