Investors betting on new contract wins for Arabtec Holding helped the contractor's stocks surge in recent days.
The firm is bidding for contracts in Saudi Arabia valued at billions of dirhams, Ziad Makhzoumi, the chief financial officer, said yesterday.
"There are great opportunities in Saudi Arabia.
"It is a big country, almost 30 million people, the majority of which are below the age of 21, so you need to provide employment, education, housing and hospitals," he said. The firm, based in Dubai, is already operating in the kingdom through its alliance with CPC Services, a member of the Saudi Binladin Group and Al Mawarid Holding, another Saudi firm.
Similarly, Arabtec is also hoping to tap further opportunities in Abu Dhabi.
State-controlled fund Aabar Investments on Sunday awarded Arabtec a Dh222 million contract to build a residential tower in the capital.
It follows Aabar only weeks before becoming the largest shareholder in the company.
Aabar has a 10.45 per cent stake.
After a slowdown in projects in Abu Dhabi in recent years, Mr Makhzoumi said the pipeline for new projects was beginning to fill up again.
In January, the Executive Council gave the go-ahead for a host of projects in Abu Dhabi, including Abu Dhabi International Airport's Midfield Terminal and projects on Saadiyat Island.
"We are confident that Abu Dhabi will again become an important market," he said.
The firm's overall backlog of projects was valued at Dh14 billion, a similar level to the same period last year.
"We don't expect substantial projects to start until the second half of this year," he said.
"So we hope this year will be a better year."
Arabtec's shares rose 0.3 per cent yesterday to Dh3.62.
twitter: Follow and share our breaking business news. Follow us
