Malaysian engineering and energy firm Ranhill Bhd, which has been expanding overseas to push growth, plans to invest in a power plant in Pakistan, a top company official said on Thursday.
The 150-170 megawatt plant, estimated to cost $150 million, will be built jointly with the Fauji Foundation, Deputy Chief Executive Zahari Abdul Wahab said.
He declined to say how much Ranhill would invest in the plant and where it would be located, saying only that details were being worked out. "We are not certain whether it will be gas- or oil-fired," he said.
Ranhill, Malaysia's seventh-biggest construction firm by market value, has been diversifying into the energy sector and last week won a $20.9 million deal with a group of Pakistani firms to build a gas processing plant in Pakistan.
The plant is located near Rawalpindi.
Pakistan, whose economy is forecast to grow 6.0 percent in the financial year that begins on July 1 against 5.8 percent this year, is a priority market for Ranhill, Zahari said.
"We are looking for opportunities in Pakistan," he told reporters.
Ranhill was also among several foreign companies teaming up with Pakistani firms bidding to buy a strategic 73 percent stake in the Karachi Electric Supply Corp (KESC).
Pakistani officials have said a successful sale of the firm would help kick-start privatisation.
"We have been short-listed and we are waiting for the outcome," Zahari said. "We are still evaluating whether the project is viable."
Standard & Poor's Asian Equity Research on Thursday upgraded Ranhill shares to "accumulate" from "hold" following a sharp fall.
"The fundamentals for Ranhill have not deteriorated and its target price remains at 9.05 ringgit ($2.38), representing a potential upside of 34.1 percent," it said in a research note dated May 20.
Ranhill shares, which have lost 16 percent in the past month or nearly double the main index's decline due to worries about lack of new orders, ended up 0.7 percent at 6.80 ringgit.
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