SAJ Ranhill's Johor water services licence renewed for three years

PETALING JAYA: SAJ Ranhill Sdn Bhd’s licence as the exclusive water services operator for Johor has been renewed for three years, from Jan 1, 2018 to Dec 31, 2020.

Ranhill Holdings Bhd, which owns 80% of SAJ Ranhill, said in a statement today the renewal was recommended by the National Water Services Commission (SPAN) and approved by the Ministry of Energy, Green Technology and Water.
“The approval was granted following a rigorous performance review, in compliance with Section 17 of the Water Service Industry Act 2006 and Section 7 of the Water Service Industry (Licensing) Regulation 2007.”
Ranhill said as SAJ Ranhill accounts for about 77% of the group’s total revenue, the renewal is expected to contribute to SAJ Ranhill as well as the group’s short- and long-term growth.
SAJ Ranhill has been the sole provider of water supply services in Johor since 1999, initially under a 30-year build-operate-transfer (BOT) concession.
In 2009, in line with the government’s aspiration to promote policy objectives for water supply services through the establishment of a licensing and regulatory framework, SAJ Ranhill voluntarily surrendered its concession and migrated to the new licensing regime.
SAJ Ranhill operates and maintains a combined production capacity of 1.99 billion litres daily. It has reduced the state’s non-revenue water, which stood at over 40% in 1999 to 24.7% at end-June 2017, with physical loss of only 15.4 m3 per kilometre of pipe per day.
SAJ Ranhill’s operation cost of RM498,312 per 1,000 account up to November 2017 is well within the key performance indicator target set by SPAN.
Ranhill group has a total of 17 water and wastewater concessions on BOT, takeover-operate-transfer and built-transfer-operate basis with an aggregate treatment capacity of 290 million litres per day (mld) and 102 mld in China (40%-owned subsidiary) and Thailand (100%-owned subsidiary) respectively.
On Bursa Malaysia today, Ranhill’s share price gained 1 sen or 1.4% to close at 70 sen on 442,000 shares traded.