Drake, whose biggest market is Saudi Arabia, is also
keeping a close eye on political unrest in Egypt, where it is bidding for
$200-$300 million worth of projects, Chief Corporate Affairs Officer Zeina
Tabari told Reuters in an interview on Tuesday.
"The majority of our contracts this year will be
from the GCC," she said, adding: "We have a business development team
in Iraq, but it is a new market for us and will take some time to start
tendering. Probably in Q3 and Q4."
Gulf Arab companies see growing opportunities to invest
in Iraq in sectors including energy, telecoms, finance and infrastructure, as
the war-torn nation battles to recover from years of bloodshed.
Drake, which specializes in mechanical, engineering and
plumbing businesses (MEP), has a project backlog of 7.6 billion dirhams, 2.7
billion of which has been won since the start of 2011. Tabari declined to give
an expected figure for the year end, citing uncertainty over tenders in Egypt.
"We are bidding for $200-$300 million worth of
contracts there. So far clients have indicated that the projects will
continue."
Drake won a $126.6 million contract in Egypt in January,
and the project is on track, Tabari said.
Drake has been rapidly expanding its operations outside
Dubai, where house prices have plunged some 60 percent since their peaks in
2008 as a result of the financial crisis.
It is bidding for some 5 billion dirhams worth of
projects in all its markets, including 4 billion dirhams worth of work in
Qatar.
Outside the Gulf, Drake is tendering for work in Vietnam
and Djibouti, but does not see contract wins there until the fourth quarter of
2012, Tabari said.
Tabari said Drake expected revenues of around 623 million
dirhams ($170 million) in the first and second quarters of 2011, in line with
the fourth-quarter figure as revenues from key market Saudi Arabia and other
contracts won last year kick in.
The contractor made a fourth quarter profit of 41 million
dirhams ($11.16 million), it said on Monday, unchanged from the
year-ago-period, while competition and acquisition costs hampered full-year
earnings.
Drake's shares surged to a 15-month high on Monday after
it won a $533 million contract in Saudi Arabia the previous day.
Its shares were 1.8 percent lower at 1.12 dirhams a share
at 0933 GMT on Tuesday.
Around 30 percent of Drake's work is in Saudi Arabia, 25
percent in Abu Dhabi, 18 percent in Dubai and the remainder in the Gulf Arab
region, Asia and Africa, Tabari said.
