Bangkok--18 Mar--WorkLink
L.V. Technology Public Company Limited (LVT), the MAI-listed engineering consultancy with ongoing operations in various parts of the world, has confirmed the signing of new contracts worth about 1.8 billion baht, which has brought the company’s total backlog to about 3.8 billion baht.
According to LVT’s filing with the Stock Exchange of Thailand (SET) today (Mar 18, 2013), the new contracts include the upgrading and extension works for two cement plants in Myanmar worth a combined US$ 36 million, the provision of engineering services and supply of equipment and machinery for a new pozzolan kiln plant in Brazil valued at US$13.9 million and a turnkey contract for a white cement kiln expansion system in Malaysia worth US$ 8.97 million.
LVT founder and president Hans Jorgen Nielsen stated that the new contracts signaled the company’s strong performance this year. Worth a combined roughly 1.8 billion baht, these new jobs have raised total backlog to about 3.8 billion baht now (up from about 2 billion baht at the end of last year).
The two contracts in Myanmar have strengthened LVT’s foothold in the country’s booming cement industry. Both contracts — being undertaken for the Max Manufacturing Group, a thriving industrial conglomerate in Myanmar — involved the upgrading of two old cement plants (Max 1 and Max 2) from wet to dry process which would raise their production capacity from 500 to 2,100 tons per day each.
According to Mr. Nielsen, the Max Manufacturing Group will become the biggest cement producer in Myanmar by the end of 2014 when modification of the two plants is completed, churning out about 1.5 million tons per year or roughly 18 per cent of the country’s cement demand.
LVT has targeted to enter into a joint venture with the Max Manufacturing Group to tap the booming cement markets in Myanmar and details of the joint venture are expected to be finalized in the near future. The joint venture would correspond with the company’s latest corporate strategy to create assets that can generate recurrent income and profits into the long-term future.
Investments in the joint venture will be funded by proceeds from a recent capital increase plus revenue from the partial divestment of another joint-venture subsidiary in India, LNVT. The company raised 215 million baht from the recent rights issue that was over-subscribed by shareholders, with another 51 million shares set aside for private placement (PP) that would raise at least another 64 million baht.
Meanwhile, the partial sale of LVT’s stake in LNVT, the Indian subsidiary, has raised roughly 260 million baht, about 157 million of which is expected to be booked as consolidated profits in the first quarter this year. This would effectively turn the company around into profitability from losses in recent years.