Friday, April 27, 2007

Tanjong's Power Listing?

My dearest Moo Moo Cow,

Saw this news article on Star Bizweek, Tanjong power listing. My initial reaction upon seeing the news headline was, "Oh my, they can't be serious, can they? What about them shareholders of the stock Powertek, which Tanjong privatised a couple of years ago? Surely, they cannot be too happy seeing such news, can they?"

Then I read the article.

Guess what?

The article was filled with the usual according to sources, is expected, it is understood!!!!

Yet again, we are seeing tons of un-known sources being quoted yet again!! And the whole basis of the article is based on expectations!

  • Friday April 27, 2007

    Tanjong power listing

    By C. S. Tan

    PETALING JAYA: Tanjong plc is expected to spin off its power division for a listing overseas, which will enable the power and gaming group tap funds for acquisition of more power assets in other countries.

    As the company examines this option, sources say they expect such an exercise to unlock the value of its existing power assets, possibly before year's end.

    Tanjong started out as a numbers forecast operator (NFO) but later diversified successfully as an independent power producer (IPP).

    The power business has worked out so well that it produces larger profits than the NFO operations. The power division generated an operating profit of about RM430mil after interest costs, dwarfing the gaming division's operating profit of RM150mil in the financial year ended Jan 31, 2007.

    An initial public offering of the power assets could lead to a value of over RM3bil to emerge in a power company, the sources said.

    Visibility of earnings in the power division is clear again, now that negotiations between the Government and IPPs are believed to have been discontinued last month.

    The Government had hoped to re-negotiate supplementary agreements that would reduce the current burden of the bill that Tenaga Nasional Bhd has to pay to the IPPs.

    It was expected that a re-negotiated agreement would have been neutral to the value of the IPPs as measured by their discounted cash flows but the cash flows would be received over an extended concession period. That would have affected current dividend flows from Tanjong's three IPPs in the country.

    Since that may not be an issue anymore, Tanjong will be able to go to the capital markets and commit its Malaysian power assets to a certain level of dividend payout.

    The group owns three power plants in Malacca, two in Egypt and a 10% stake in a power generation and water desalination complex in Abu Dhabi, the United Arab Emirates.

    Tanjong has shown an ambition to expand its power business. It managed, for instance, to double its total net power generating capacity in the past year or so to 3,055 MW after its acquisition of power assets in Egypt and Abu Dhabi.

    The group has the balance sheet to expand further. It has a sizeable free cash flow of about RM500mil a year from its power and gaming businesses. That will enable it to obtain financing for any power assets that it acquires.

    Additionally, the group had RM1.29bil cash as at end-January, which should rapidly increase until it makes its next acquisition.

    The group is understood to be scouting around for acquisitions in the growth economies of Asia rather than the mature markets in the United States and Europe. Thus, it is searching for power assets in the Middle East, North Africa, Indian sub-continent and South-East Asia.

    Such acquisitions need to go through a tendering process and it has experienced a few failures in the past two to three years.

    Nonetheless, it took that as a step up the learning curve and the acquisitions of two sizeable power plants in Egypt last year vindicated its claims that it can succeed.

    Sources say Tanjong has the capacity and capability to acquire additional power plants every few years.

How?

Would Tanjong deny such a story?



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