 "Big listed real estate companies drive profits home in a dull market")
The health of EPC (engineering, procurement and construction) contractors, especially from the SME segment, is unlikely to improve significantly in the near term, given that a majority of their orders are driven by the real estate sector, where a prolonged lull is showing no signs of ending.
SMEs account for more than three-fourths of the EPC market.
Over the past three years, the real estate industry has been affected by regulatory changes such as the Goods and Services Tax, Real Estate Regulatory Act, and the thrust on affordable housing. The impact of these has been clearly visible in the reduced
