Hong Leong Investment Bank Bhd (HLIB Research) is anticipating another year of healthy job flows for the construction sector after the sector recorded a strong growth in domestic contract awards for the first quarter of 2025 (1Q25).

In a research note, HLIB Research said the domestic contract awards in 1Q25 came in at RM16.4 billion, an increase of 33% quarter-on-quarter and 135% year-on-year.

"This is the highest quarterly tally since 1Q16 and second highest since 2009, bettering a strong data centre-driven quarter in 2Q24 (RM13.8 billion)," it added.

HLIB Research said it is expecting the infra projects to lead the incoming job flows this year anchored by Penang LRT — systems package (RM3 billion to RM4 billion) award and Segment 2 tender in the second half of 2025.

"Other notable infra projects adding to the stream include Penang Airport WP3, roads and highways, water projects as well as hospitals.

"As for commercial and residential projects, there could be slight moderation this year after an exceptional 2024 partly driven by Johor's development reinvigoration and revamped Malaysia My Second Home," it added.

Meanwhile, HLIB Research said US President Donald Trump's reciprocal tariffs applied across all of US's trading partners set to be activated on April 9 could slow down industrial job flows near term amid a strategic reassessment.

"Going forward, we anticipate higher contract flows from the data centre (DC) segment (RM1.2 billion in 1Q25) not least considering the sizable number of ongoing tender opportunities.

"This is further corroborated by the growth in Tenaga Nasional Bhd's total DC pipeline (December 2024) expanding to 5.9GW or 26% QoQ," it added.