SHAH ALAM: Water pipes maker and contractor Jaks Resources Bhd is targeting a conservative RM300mil in revenue for the financial year ending Dec 31 (FY08), up 6% from FY07’s RM282.2mil, as it awaits the confirmation of a number of projects under the Ninth Malaysian Plan (9MP).

Chairman Datuk Zolkipli Abdul said the group planned to allocate about RM10mil for capital expenditure to upgrade its machinery in its Bentong plant if it secured the Pahang-Selangor interstate water transfer project and the Langat II water treatment plant in Pahang.

“To date, no parties have been awarded the two projects yet,” Zolkipli said after the company AGM and EGM yesterday.

However, Kumpulan Darul Ehsan Bhd (KDEB), the investment arm of the Selangor government, had received a letter of intent from the Government in February.

Kumpulan Perangsang Selangor Bhd (KPS), which is 60% owned by KDEB, has a 10% stake in Jaks.

Jaks group finance general manager Chee Seong Heng said: “We are confident we should be able to secure some of the packages as we have a strong alliance with KDEB.”

The projects were expected to be awarded by year-end, he said.

Currently, Jaks is bidding for water-related projects worth RM1.5bil in Malaysia.

Jaks had an unbilled order book worth RM202mil that could last for two years, Chee said, noting that it currently had on-going projects in Kedah, Selangor, Sabah, Perak, Terengganu and Malacca.

Additionally, Jaks was eyeing water-related projects in Sarawak under the 9MP, he said.

However, he declined to identify the projects.

On expansion overseas, Chee said Jaks was in preliminary talks with local partners in Dubai and Vietnam on water works in these countries.

Meanwhile, Jaks was not affected by the increase in steel prices as most of its projects were at their tail-end now he said.

Moreover, steel is a controlled item and price increases can be passed on to customers as variable cost.

Besides, Jaks could mitigate the risks of price increases as it had its own manufacturing arm, Chee said.

He added that that its production facilities were running at 30% to 40% capacity.