The Islamic debt ratings of A+ID/MARC-1ID assigned to Weida (M) Bhd’s (“Weida”) RM100 million Murabahah Facility reflect, among others, the Group’s reputable position as a manufacturer of high density polyethylene (“HDPE”) engineering products for the water and sewerage industry; and its historically strong financial performance.

Weida is an investment holding company with subsidiaries principally involved in the manufacturing and trading of HDPE engineering products for the water and sewerage industry. At present, Weida has three manufacturing plants strategically located in Kuching, Kota Kinabalu and Nilai. The facilities are currently cumulatively operating at 10,842 MT representing a utilisation rate of 60%. Its main products are water tanks, sewerage and sanitation systems and pipes. Weida also manages and maintains the only septic sludge treatment plant in Kuching , Sarawak on a long term contract basis and undertakes design and build projects for the water and sewerage infrastructure.

The Group’s main revenue is from the sale of its HDPE engineering products which contributed on average 88% of its total revenue for the last five years. Trading of water tanks and sewerage and sanitation system contributed approximately 71% of total sale of HDPE engineering products under the Group’s brand names of Polystor and Polysept respectively.

The acquisition of UTIC Services Sdn Bhd (“UTIC”) in October 2004 expanded Weida’s services to include trenchless pipe rehabilitation services which is a relatively new field in Malaysia, where UTIC is a market leader.

Weida’s debt to equity ratio has been consistently below one time despite high R&D activities and the capital-intensive environment. Following the issuance of the Islamic debt, the pro-forma debt to equity ratio is expected to be 0.52 times. Under MARC’s sensitivity analysis of Weida’s projected cash flow, the latter’s cash generation capacity was generally found to be strong throughout the tenure of the facility.