This article first appeared in The Edge Malaysia Weekly on August 17, 2026 - August 23, 2026

Mitrajaya Holdings Bhd (KL:MITRA) has emerged as a standout performer in the construction sector, earning two accolades at once at The Edge Malaysia Centurion Club Corporate Awards 2026, following a sharp acceleration in earnings that capped off a successful turnaround and bolstered its share price.

The group is a familiar name in the local construction scene, having been listed on the Second Board of the then Kuala Lumpur Stock Exchange in December 1994, before being promoted to the Main Board (now the Main Market) in May 1998. During the construction boom in the late 2010s, the builder — which had previously worked on massive infrastructure projects such as the Kuala Lumpur International Airport, the light rail transit system in Kuala Lumpur and the Putrajaya federal administrative centre — saw its annual net profit peak at over RM100 million.

However, Mitrajaya’s bottom line sank drastically in subsequent years, before slipping into the red in FY2019. While it returned to the black briefly in FY2020, the group dipped again into losses in FY2021, owing to pandemic lockdowns and surging raw material costs.

The group then staged a turnaround in FY2022, with a net profit of RM7.4 million, which nearly doubled to RM14.1 million in FY2023, rose further to RM21.9 million in FY2024, and then surged to RM83.6 million in FY2025 as construction revenue more than doubled to RM708.1 million. This represents a three-year compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 93.3% based on Centurion Club awards methodology — the highest in its sector during this three-year evaluation period — clinching it the award for Highest Growth in Profit After Tax Over Three Years in the construction sector.

Alongside the bottom-line improvement, the group saw a boost in return on equity (ROE), which surged to 11.4% in FY2025 from 3.16% in FY2024 and 2.07% in FY2023, translating into a weighted ROE of 7.1%.

The significant earnings improvement caught investors’ attention, reflected in the steady increase of its share price during the three-year period. The stock was trading at 54 sen (adjusted) as at end-March this year — the awards’ cut-off date — having climbed from 22.7 sen on March 31, 2023. This translates into a CAGR of 13.4% for shareholders’ returns — another peer-topping performance that saw the group take home the sectoral award for Highest Returns to Shareholders Over Three Years.

A major turning point in Mitrajaya’s turnaround was its entry into the high-margin data centre space. In May 2024, the group landed initial foundation works for Australian data centre operator NEXTDC Ltd’s hyperscale campus, which led the way to it securing the main works contract in January 2025 — initially valued at RM375.5 million. Strong execution led to multiple scope additions, eventually pushing the NEXTDC contract value to RM801.8 million by September that year. A further variation order in January 2026 lifted the contract value to RM844.66 million, while Mitrajaya secured a separate RM54 million early-works award from the same client in April.

Subsequently, Apex Securities, in an initiation coverage report on Mitrajaya, observed that the entry into the data centre segment marked a key inflection point in Mitrajaya’s earnings profile, while noting that the group’s track record could improve its prospects of securing repeat jobs in a segment that commands better margins than conventional construction.

As at end-2025, Mitrajaya’s outstanding construction order book stood at RM900.83 million. Major awards during the year, worth a combined RM608.22 million, included the works for NEXTDC, earthworks for a commercial tower at the Tun Razak Exchange for TRX City Sdn Bhd, and an eight-storey serviced apartment serving as a training and recreational facility in Langkawi for Tenaga Nasional Bhd (KL:TENAGA).

Stronger cash generation also helped repair Mitrajaya’s balance sheet, as total borrowings declined 88.7% from RM72.47 million in FY2024 to RM8.19 million in FY2025, while cash and bank balances more than doubled to RM21.79 million, leaving the group with net cash of RM13.6 million versus net borrowings of RM61.98 million a year earlier.

With data centres and industrial developments continuing to underpin Malaysia’s construction pipeline, Mitrajaya sees room to sustain its momentum, although it remains mindful of cost pressures and geopolitical uncertainties.

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