By Sharen Kaur
sharen@nstp.com.my
Published in NST on July 5, 2012
MMC Corp Bhd plans to submit next month a proposal on the privatisation of national railway company Keretapi Tanah Melayu Bhd (KTMB) to the government.
Group managing director, Datuk Hasni Harun said the proposal is subject to the result of due diligence study conducted by the company which is expected to be completed by the end of the month.
"We will also submit an operational plan together with the proposal. The operational plan will indicate how we intend to run KTMB," Hasni told Business Times in an interview recently.
KTMB suffered some RM1.45 billion in accumulative net losses up until 2008.
It is further believed that the national railway company cannot "afford" to pay back its own operational costs and loans.
The operator has been mostly bleeding red ink since it was corporatised in 1992 due to high operating costs.
KTMB did rake in a net profit of between RM9 million and RM15 million from 1993 to 1995, before falling back into the red again in the following years.
This is not the first attempt by MMC to take over KTMB's operations as MMC and Gamuda Bhd were eyeing to privatise and take over KTMB's assets in 2003.
The consortium had held preliminary discussions with the government but nothing materialised.
Business Times had previously reported that as an operator, MMC will have to invest in rolling stocks required for the operations and manage KTMB's current workforce of more than 5,000 employees.
However, MMC will not have to absorb KTMB's debt of over RM1 billion because the fixed assets comprising 11 depots, land, building and equipment will remain with the government.
sharen@nstp.com.my
Published in NST on July 5, 2012
NEXT MONTH: Govt to get privatisation, operational plans
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Group managing director, Datuk Hasni Harun said the proposal is subject to the result of due diligence study conducted by the company which is expected to be completed by the end of the month.
"We will also submit an operational plan together with the proposal. The operational plan will indicate how we intend to run KTMB," Hasni told Business Times in an interview recently.
KTMB suffered some RM1.45 billion in accumulative net losses up until 2008.
The operator has been mostly bleeding red ink since it was corporatised in 1992 due to high operating costs.
KTMB did rake in a net profit of between RM9 million and RM15 million from 1993 to 1995, before falling back into the red again in the following years.
This is not the first attempt by MMC to take over KTMB's operations as MMC and Gamuda Bhd were eyeing to privatise and take over KTMB's assets in 2003.
The consortium had held preliminary discussions with the government but nothing materialised.
Business Times had previously reported that as an operator, MMC will have to invest in rolling stocks required for the operations and manage KTMB's current workforce of more than 5,000 employees.
However, MMC will not have to absorb KTMB's debt of over RM1 billion because the fixed assets comprising 11 depots, land, building and equipment will remain with the government.
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