At 3.1x P/E, Isn't This Company A Value Play in S'pore Construction Boom?

Singapore's construction sector is riding a massive wave of public and private demand, leading to construction stocks soaring.

There are two Singapore-based construction companies operating largely in similar niches -- yet their stock performances and valuations are poles apart because while one is listed on SGX, the other is on HKSE (where the Singapore construction theme has not really taken hold among investors).

They are Chuan Holdings (SEHK: 1420) and Reclaims Global (SGX Catalist).

Let's check out their full-year numbers that were released last week.

Metric	Reclaims Global	Chuan Holdings
Share price	S$0.196	HK$0.28
Market cap	S$59.2 m	HK$353.8 m (=S$58 m)
Net Profit	S$6.85 m	S$18.96 m
P/E	8.6x	3.1x
Price/Book	1.25	0.47
Dividend/share	1.0 S cent	0

Chuan Holdings

Chuan Holdings is an earthworks contractor that has a foothold also in property investment and dormitory management to smooth out construction cycles. Its FY2025 (ended Dec 2025) results were a blockbuster.

Surging Top and Bottom Lines: Chuan posted S$170.0 million in revenue, an 18.3% year-on-year jump. Even better, net profit surged by 132.9% to S$19.0 million.
Fattening Margins: Highly selective in tendering for higher-margin public sector earthworks, and combined with the first full-year contribution of its high-margin property segment, Chuan's gross margin expanded massively from 13.2% to 21.3%.
Big Visibility: Chuan is currently sitting on a S$766.9 million pipeline of ongoing projects.
Strong Cash Conversion: Operating cash flow was S$22.2 million, closely tracking the net profit.
The Catch: Chuan carries S$41.4 million in debt following its 2024 acquisition (S$46.7 million) of an industrial property in Senoko Drive which also comprised a foreign worker dormitory which generates rental income.

Chuan holds S$26.2 million in cash but did not declare dividends for the year.

Reclaims Global

While Reclaims Global also operates in the earthworks niche, it has a wider focus on eco-friendly recycling of construction waste and fleet logistics.

Steady Growth: For FY2026 (ended January 2026), Reclaims clocked a steady 4.8% revenue increase to S$46.5 million, driven by strong excavation demand.

Net profit came in at S$6.9 million, including a one-off S$1.2 million gain from disposing of equipment.
A Pristine Balance Sheet: It is debt-free with a fat S$27.9 million cashpile, contributed in part from a share placement which raised S$7.5 million in net proceeds.
Shareholder-friendly: A a 1.0 SG cent dividend is proposed for the year, which includes a 0.5 cent special payout.
The Not-So-Great Points: The bottom-line was padded by the S$1.2 million one-off gain.

More concerning, the operating cash flow fell to just S$3.1 million, driven by sluggish customer repayments, pushing trade receivables turnover up to a concerning 97 days from 67 days previously.

BOTTOMLINE

Fundamentally, Chuan Holdings takes the crown in this comparison with its low PE and P/B on a stronger earnings base.

Its margins are improving, and a S$766.9 million order book offers multi-year visibility. It is translating profit into actual cash at a good clip.

While Reclaims Global has an attractive zero-debt balance sheet and decent dividends, the underlying business is not accelerating as fast and the customers are slow in paying up.

lamp9.25 → See the financial statements of Chuan Holdings here, and Reclaims Global's here.

→ See also: Isn't This What Deep Value Looks Like: ~5x Ex-Cash P/E, $135M Cash Hoard, Record Order Book?