ASEAN Data Centers DC execution phase 2 begins

Research evidence excerpt

J P M O R G A N

Asia Pacific Equity Research

05 August 2026

ASEAN Data Centers

DC execution phase 2 begins

Phase 2 of Malaysia's DC award cycle is now underway and SCGB (OW) remains

our highest conviction beneficiary. Two major hyperscaler awards this week

reinforce our view that 2HCY26 marks the inflection point with actual awards

accelerating after a prolonged gestation period. Our proprietary 13GW DC tracker

continues to point to a sizeable ~RM120bn construction opportunity yet to be

awarded (~4GW at RM30m/MW). SCGB remains the clearest beneficiary, while

GAM's latest win further validates its long-term DC opportunity.

New DC awards validate our above-consensus proprietary DC tracker.

While the market remains anchored to TNB's 8.3GW of ESA signed, our

bottom-up 13GW proprietary tracker — built from campus-level land

acquisitions, utility approvals and hyperscaler commitments — continues to

point to a further ~4GW (~RM120bn) of construction opportunities yet to be

awarded. Going by their hyperscaler relationships, we estimate SCGB can

capture ~24% of this opportunity pool vs. ~12% for GAM, positioning the

former as the largest beneficiary of Malaysia's next DC capex wave.

SCGB's DC orderbook remains materially underappreciated. Its latest

RM1bn US hyperscaler MEP win brings YTD awards in line with

management's ~RM6bn guidance. While consensus has raised replenishment

expectations to RM7bn-8bn, we remain comfortable with our street-high

RM10bn forecast as MEP awards typically lag core-and-shell packages, where

our tracker indicates a meaningful pipeline already awarded over the past few

months. We see upcoming 2QFY26 results as the next catalyst, with scope for

guidance upgrades backed by >RM20bn tenderbook. This underpins our

RM12bn/RM10bn FY27/28 orderbook forecasts and earnings estimates that

remain 20%/32% above consensus.

GAM's DC opportunity continues to strengthen. The recent RM1.7bn Port

Dickson award from a US hyperscaler further reinforces its DC credentials, but

the key focus for GAM will be translating its growing orderbook into execution

and earnings, with investors likely to focus on project delivery and margins as

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