KUALA LUMPUR (Sept 2): KJTS Group Bhd’s (KL:KJTS) Thailand subsidiary has secured four 20-year agreements with subsidiaries of Thai-listed hotel operator Central Plaza Hotel PCL (Centel) to provide services to four hotels in Thailand. The contracts were awarded to its engineering arm, KJTN Engineering Co Ltd, on Wednesday.

The agreements include retrofit, operations and maintenance (O&M), chilled water supply, and design, build and operate (DBO) services. The retrofit, operate, maintain and transfer (ROMT) contract covers Centara Reserve Samui, while the three DBO contracts cover Centara Hotel Hat Yai, Centara Grand Beach Resort Phuket and Centara Karon Resort Phuket.

Centel is part of the Central Group conglomerate and operates hotels and resorts. KJTS said KJTN Engineering had previously completed three cooling-related projects for Centel.

KJTN Engineering will receive fixed fees of about THB393.8 million (RM47.8 million) over the agreements’ 20-year period. This will allow the company to recover its investment and earn recurring O&M revenue, KJTS said in a separate statement. Chilled water charges will be billed separately based on actual usage, while the O&M fees will be adjusted annually for Thai inflation.

KJTN Engineering will invest about THB92 million (RM11.2 million) across the four chiller plants. KJTN’s funding will come from internal funds and/or bank borrowings.

With these agreements, the number of Centara properties served by KJTN Engineering in Thailand will increase from three to seven, strengthening KJTS Group’s recurring income and providing greater revenue visibility up to 2047.

KJTN Engineering has operated in Thailand since 2021 and currently holds three long-term agreements with the Central Group: Centara Grand Mirage Beach Resort in Pattaya and Centara Grand Beach Resort Hua Hin, both on 20-year terms, and Centara Grand Hotel at Central World in Bangkok on a 15-year term.

Across the four hotels KJTN Engineering will install 1,700 refrigeration tons of new high-efficiency magnetic bearing centrifugal chillers, along with upgraded pumps, motors, cooling tower capacity and chiller plant control systems. The upgrades will enable live remote monitoring and continuous optimisation of cooling performance across the four properties.

KJTS shares rose one sen, or 0.9%, to RM1.09 on Wednesday, giving the company a market capitalisation of RM752.8 million.