KUALA LUMPUR: Prasarana Malaysia Bhd plans to monetise its assets worth RM15 billion by launching a transport-based real estate investment trust (REIT) in the next five years.
Its president and chief executive officer Datuk Azmi Abdul Aziz said the REIT, which would be the first of its kind on the local bourse, was expected to attract local and foreign investors, both retail and institutional.
Azmi said the need to unlock the value of the assets was important as the company used its own funds
for capital and operational expenditure, without any government assistance.
“The investors would be investing in quality rail assets,” he said in an exclusive interview with the New Straits Times recently.
Azmi said the RM15 billion assets were mainly infrastructure-related and funded by long-term bonds of five- to 25-year maturity.
The bonds were issued to raise money for the construction of the light rail transit (LRT) lines in Ampang and Kelana Jaya in the Klang Valley more than a decade ago.
A year ago, RAM Ratings Services Bhd reaffirmed the rating of Prasarana’s RM5.468 billion bonds at “AAA/Stable”.
The agency said the rating reflected Prasarana’s strategic importance as the owner and operator of key public transport infrastructure — rail and bus — in the Klang Valley.
It also said the government’s support had been further underlined by its guarantee on all Prasarana’s debts, including the rated bond.
Meanwhile, Azmi said Prasarana had appointed Rahim & Co to value its assets.
“We believe the assets are worth much more today. For example, the Bangsar LRT (station) was last valued at RM10 million. But that was when the passenger traffic was 10,000 people per day.
“Today, we have more than one million passengers travelling through all the LRT stations. And if you look at the surroundings of the stations there are a lot of new developments. So I believe the value of the Bangsar station is now worth much more than RM10 million.
Azmi said most nations such as the United States, London and Hong Kong had done something in terms of monetising their rail assets, including launching a REIT.
“So we believe this is a good thing to do for the long-term growth of the company.
“We are not there to make big money but we need to make money. We have more than 8,000 employees and are still hiring as we need to prepare for the Sungai Buloh-Kajang mass rapid transit line, which will be fully operational by July next year,” he added.