Friday, Jan 13, 2006
MARC has upgraded the rating of MTD Prime Sdn Bhd’s (MTD Prime) Al-Bai Bithaman Ajil Islamic Debt Securities (BAIDS) rating to AAID. The rating upgrade is a reflection of the continuous traffic growth at the KL–Karak Highway (KLK) and the strength of the company’s financial profile underpinned by the strong revenue and pre-tax profit growth following the contribution from the East Coast Expressway Phase 1 (ECE1).
KLK’s traffic growth improved by 7.9% to 27.7 million passenger car units (pcu) in 2004. For the remainder of the BAIDS period, the company projects a traffic growth of 7% based on the average traffic growth of 7.3% for the last eight years. The opening of the ECE1 in January 2005 is expected to generate positive contribution to MTD Prime’s tolling revenue. Revenue from toll collections of the completed ECE1 is expected to contribute towards MTD Prime’s revenue for the years to come. For FY2006 and FY2007 respectively, the company expects collections from ECE1 to account for 40% and 39% of MTD Prime’s revenue respectively.
MTD Prime’s revenue increased 31.1% from the previous year supported by the recognition of tolling revenue from ECE1, which commenced its toll collections in January 2005. Operating profit margin, however, declined slightly to 59.6% mainly due to the increase in operating costs arising from the commencement of ECE1 and higher maintenance costs incurred. Pre-tax profit consequently, increased to RM57.46 million in FY2005 from RM40.98 million in the previous year. The company’s debt leverage improved marginally to 0.74x with the progressive redemption of the BAIDS where the final redemption would be in year 2007.
KLK’s traffic growth improved by 7.9% to 27.7 million passenger car units (pcu) in 2004. For the remainder of the BAIDS period, the company projects a traffic growth of 7% based on the average traffic growth of 7.3% for the last eight years. The opening of the ECE1 in January 2005 is expected to generate positive contribution to MTD Prime’s tolling revenue. Revenue from toll collections of the completed ECE1 is expected to contribute towards MTD Prime’s revenue for the years to come. For FY2006 and FY2007 respectively, the company expects collections from ECE1 to account for 40% and 39% of MTD Prime’s revenue respectively.
MTD Prime’s revenue increased 31.1% from the previous year supported by the recognition of tolling revenue from ECE1, which commenced its toll collections in January 2005. Operating profit margin, however, declined slightly to 59.6% mainly due to the increase in operating costs arising from the commencement of ECE1 and higher maintenance costs incurred. Pre-tax profit consequently, increased to RM57.46 million in FY2005 from RM40.98 million in the previous year. The company’s debt leverage improved marginally to 0.74x with the progressive redemption of the BAIDS where the final redemption would be in year 2007.