A flurry of contract wins around the GCC have given a tonic to Drake & Scull International's share price in recent days.
Analysts had been worried the company's backlog was not sufficient to sustain its growth this year. But such fears have faded after it bagged two new contracts.
Yesterday it announced that its Qatar subsidiary won a contract worth more than 300 million rials for the design, supply, installation and commissioning of all mechanical, engineering and plumbing works for a mixed-use property development in Doha.
The day before, the company's civil contracting arm signed a Dh450m contract in Saudi Arabia's western province.
Drake & Scull's stock rose 1.8 per cent yesterday to 80 fils on the Dubai Financial Market.
Its stock is up 12.8 per cent this year.
"DSI is one of my picks," said Haissam Arabi, an independent investment expert. "It is much cheaper than Arabtec and other peers in its sector as there was concern that its backlog was not big enough. But now it has one of the fastest-growing backlogs."
The Qatar project encompasses a 260,000 square metre built-up area split into three blocks with residential buildings, schools, utilities, offices and retail units.
"The development serves as one of our flagship projects in Qatar that strongly demonstrates the full spectrum of our service portfolio," said Karem Akawi, the area general manager at Drake & Scull Qatar.
Work on the project in Saudi Arabia will start immediately with an estimated completion of December next year.
The contract wins suggest that the company's strategy to expand its footprint outside the UAE is bearing fruit. It now has offices in Libya, Egypt, Jordan, Thailand and every GCC nation except Bahrain.
