Kerjaya Prospek wins its first data centre job — RM858mil in Johor — and takes full ownership of 4.5 acres in Tanjung Bungah on the same day

On 3 September 2026 the Bursa-listed contractor said its wholly owned Kerjaya Prospek (M) Sdn Bhd had accepted a letter of award dated 1 September for RM858 million of mechanical, electrical and plumbing fit-out works at a data centre development in Iskandar Puteri, Johor. It is the group’s first data centre job and its largest single contract ever — 21% bigger than the RM710 million Astrum Ampang award of February 2022. In the same breath it confirmed it had completed the buyout of its Tanjung Bungah joint-venture partner, taking 100% of a 4.5-acre freehold site on Penang island.

The Johor contract

• Value: RM858 million, fixed lump sum
• Scope: MEP fit-out only — not the shell
• Timing: starts Q3 2026, to be finished within eight months of commencement — a burn rate of roughly RM107 million a month
• Client: not named. The filing did not disclose the developer, the facility’s capacity, or exactly where in Iskandar Puteri it sits
• Margin: analysts expect a net margin of 5–7%, below Kerjaya’s usual building margins — the price of entry into a new sector. That is roughly RM43–60 million of net profit
• Order book: the win lifted year-to-date contract wins to about RM3.2 billion and the outstanding order book to a record RM5.9 billion — this single job is 14.5% of it

Eight months for RM858 million of MEP is an extraordinary pace, and it is why these contracts carry thinner margins and heavier penalties than condominium jobs. Johor now holds roughly 80% of Malaysia’s operational data centre capacity, and the construction chain around a 5GW national pipeline is estimated at up to RM126 billion.

The Penang half of the story

The quieter announcement is the one that matters to Penang development.

Tanjung Bungah Development Sdn Bhd (TBD) is now wholly owned by Kerjaya Prospek Ventures. On 19 June it agreed to buy the remaining 40% from Aspen Vision Tanjung Sdn Bhd for RM80 in cash — eighty ringgit, not a typo. The real money moved separately: TBD had to settle RM60.03 million to Aspen Vision Tanjung, being RM53 million previously paid towards the land and RM7.03 million of project expenditure. The joint-venture and shareholders’ agreements were terminated by deed, and Aspen walked away.

Approximate location on Google Maps

What Kerjaya now controls outright:

• Two freehold parcels, Lot 2601 and Lot 3603, Bandar Tanjong Bungah — about 4.5 acres (196,020 sq ft)
• Land price RM117 million under the earlier transaction — about RM597 per sq ft of land
• Planned as a mixed development: affordable housing, residential units, serviced apartments, retail shops and offices, all subject to approvals
• The site was previously marketed by Aspen as HH Park & Residence, unveiled years ago and never built

Commencement still depends on vacant possession of the land and regulatory approvals — the two conditions that have kept this site empty for years.

*Map: EPIQ, via EdgeProp. Google Maps link is approximate.*