This article first appeared in The Edge Financial Daily, on May 26, 2016.

KUALA LUMPUR: AWC Bhd’s net profit rose 10 times to RM5.76 million or 2.25 sen per share for its third financial quarter ended March 31, 2016 (3QFY16) from RM575,000 or 0.26 sen per share a year ago, driven by stronger performances across all its business segments.

Revenue surged 143% to RM75.33 million in 3QFY16 from RM30.99 million in 3QFY15.

The engineering services provider has declared a special dividend of 1.5 sen per share, payable on July 1.

In a statement yesterday, AWC said the facilities division reported increases in revenue and earnings for both the current quarter and on a year-to-date (YTD) basis, brought about by new contracts secured and implemented throughout the year, most notably from the Hospital Shah Alam contract, the Menara Felda contract and the rate revision in maintenance work undertaken for the renewed concession.

Its environment division also saw a huge leap in revenue for both the current quarter and YTD basis due to good progress billings from ongoing projects, and the delivery and installation of big-ticket items throughout Malaysia, Singapore and the Middle East.

The engineering division also delivered good results as current-quarter and YTD revenue and earnings were boosted by strong sales in Singapore, and contributions from the newly acquired plumbing subsidiaries, added AWC.

For the cumulative nine-month period (9MFY16), the group’s net profit almost doubled to RM10.76 million or 4.38 sen per share from RM5.59 million or 2.48 sen per share in 9MFY15, while revenue increased 84.5% to RM173.34 million from RM93.96 million.

“This quarter’s revenue of RM75 million is our best yet and our cumulative three quarters’ revenue of RM173 million and net profit of RM10.76 million substantially surpass FY15’s full-year results [where it recorded a net profit of RM7.78 million],” AWC managing director and group chief executive officer Datuk Ahmad Kabeer Mohamed Nagoor said in the statement.

“We now look forward to our final quarter results and will continue to work tirelessly to create value for our shareholders,” he added.