Taliworks: Sum owed by Splash not finalised

PETALING JAYA: The repayment scheme for the trade receivables owed by Syarikat Pengeluar Air Sungai Selangor Sdn Bhd (Splash) to Taliworks Corp Bhd has not been finalised yet.
Executive director Datuk Ronnie Lim Yew Boon said various scenarios have been discussed with the Selangor state government via its agency Unit Perancang Ekonomi Negeri (Upen) but no decision has been made yet on the settlement.
“The receivables is about RM530 million as of March. The agreement is between the federal and state governments and they have already postponed until Oct 5, 2017. So, there’s nothing else except to wait until Oct 5. We are quite hopeful about that,” he told reporters at its AGM yesterday.
The Selangor state government is acquiring Splash under a water supply restructuring deal that was to be completed last month, unfinished tales led the Energy, Green Technology and Water Ministry to announce a further extension till Oct 5, 2017.
This extension is on top of an earlier extension by the ministry from October 2016 till April 2017, in order to facilitate the appointment of an independent valuer. Lim said the findings of the independent valuation were not disclosed to Taliworks.
Earlier in February, Hong Leong Investment Bank (HLIB) Research said the independent valuation was completed in January. In its research note, it said the estimated valuation of Splash is about RM2.8 billion.
It also said that the trade receivables owed by Splash would likely be recovered via a multi-year repayment scheme with interest accrued on any outstanding balance.
Prior to the extension of the water supply restructuring deal, Taliworks had indicated that it would use the proceeds to acquire mature infrastructure assets and was eyeing assets in water, waste management, toll road and renewable power plant sectors.
“We are still in the stage of exploring and of course, on that, we are very careful in choosing the correct investment…we got an understanding with Employees Provident Fund (EPF) that any investment of this kind we have to refer to them as well,” Lim said, adding that there are no divestment plans at the moment.
He said the group’s main contribution is from water operations, followed by waste management and toll roads, which will remain its focus for 2017.
For the first quarter ended March 31, 2017, the group posted a net profit of RM6.68 million compared with a net loss of RM225,000, primarily due to the deconsolidation of losses incurred by the China waste management division, which was disposed of in May last year.
Revenue for the quarter fell 5.1% to RM71.35 million from RM75.22 million a year ago due to lower contribution from the construction business as the SSP3-Package 3 Pipeline project was completed last year while the Mengkuang Dam Expansion project is due for completion soon.
The group declared a first interim single-tier dividend of 2 sen per share on 1.21 billion ordinary shares, amounting to RM24.2 million to be paid on July 14. It remains committed to a payout dividend ratio of not less than 75% of its consolidated net profit.