Singapore-based rolling stock manufacturer Midas yesterday said that its joint-venture company, Nanjing SR Puzhen Rail Transport, had won a contract to supply 115 railway cars for the Suzhou Metro Line 2 project.
Under the 526.9 million yuan (HK$647.8 million) contract, the units were expected to be delivered during next year and 2014 and would contribute to the firm's financial results for those two years, the company said. Midas holds 32.5 per cent of the Nanjing joint venture with CSR Corp, one of the mainland's leading train builders.
'Subway projects are being sped up in the Yangtze River delta region, including Suzhou, Wuxi, Nanjing and Shanghai,' Midas chief executive Patrick Chew said.
The company, listed in Hong Kong and Singapore, said that although its business was focused principally on China, it was now looking further afield.
Chew said turnover from overseas markets accounted for about 5 per cent of the company's overall business and that he would like to increase it to between 15 per cent and 20 per cent in the next three to four years.
The company reported a net income fall for last year of 22 per cent to 187.4 million yuan from the previous year, dragged down by a slowdown in mainland railway construction after the Wenzhou high-speed train crash and the dismissal of former railway minister Liu Zhijun.