MANILA, Philippines - Construction giant EEI Corp. was named the best managed small-cap corporate in the Philippines for 2009 by Asiamoney magazine.
A company falls under the small cap category if its market capitalization is $800 million or less.
In a statement, EEI said the appreciation of its share price by more than 200 percent in the last 12 months vis-à-vis the Philippine Stock Exchange’s index benchmark of 57 percent was one of the bases Asiamoney cited for giving the award to the construction firm.
“A clear business strategy, well-communicated business goals and opportunism were some of the traits possessed by Asia’s most successful companies during 2009,” according to the December 2009/January 2010 issue of Asiamoney.
Asiamoney is a monthly financial publication that provides reporting and analysis of the ins and outs of financial and investment markets for capital issuers, borrowers, institutional investors and senior corporate and government monetary decision-makers with business interests in Asia-Pacific countries.
“We are of course, honored to be recognized as one of the best managed companies in the Philippines by such a prestigious organization. More importantly, it gives us an indication that we are on the right track as far as the strategies we have mapped for ourselves are concerned, “ said Gaudencia Hernandez, chief finance officer of EEI.
Despite the economic downturns of the year, the diversified revenue of the company was achieved by its ability to capitalize on the opportunities abroad, especially in the Middle East and in the oil and gas sector rather than in the weaker property industry and thus make up for the weakness in the local market, EEI said.
In the nine months ending September this year, EEI posted a net income of P418.69 million, up 15 percent on the back of strong overseas operations.
Around 74 percent of its total manpower complement of 14,680 is currently deployed in its various overseas projects, particularly in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA), through its joint venture company, Al-Rushaid Construction Co. (ARCC), in Qatar and in New Caledonia.
For its foreign projects, EEI’s 49 percent-owned joint venture company, Al Rushaid Construction Corporation (ARCC) acquired a US$192 million contract with JGC Corporation for the Saudi Polymers project in the KSA in March 2009.
Orders backlog of ARCC representing the value of workable production from existing contracts stands at $265 million as of the end of September 2009. This backlog includes remaining works for the new ethylene plant of the Eastern Petrochemical Company (also known as Sharq), Saudi Aramco’s Flare Tips Project, the new Shuqaiq Power and Desalination Plant, and the rehabilitation and modification works in the Qurayyah power plant, both for Mitsubishi Heavy Industries. These projects are all located in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.