KUALA LUMPUR: Tenaga Nasional Berhad (TNB), facing questions on its possible links with the scandal-ridden 1MDB, continued its losing streak and shed 46 sen on Monday, closing at RM13.24, up from its intra-day low of RM12.98.
The TNB loss erased 3.36 points of the FTSE Bursa Malaysia KL Composite Index.
TNB lost RM1.06 since May 18 after TNB President and CEO Azman Mohd vowed that the public utility giant would not pay a premium for the troubled 1MDB's power assets. "However, we cannot allow 1MDB's coal-fired Jimah East power plant project, dubbed Track 3B, to fail as the country urgently needs the 2000MW capacity for future needs."
The TNB statement, apparently meant to squash speculation, wasn't viewed positively by the market.
"The market sentiment on 1MDB is very sensitive," said an analyst quoted by The Star. "Anything to do with 1MDB will not bring a positive response until valuations become clear."
UOB-Kay Hian, in a statement, said pricing remained the major issue in any TNB acquisition of 1MDB's Edra Global Energy Bhd "although the purchase may be positive in the long run".
"If TNB pays RM16 billion, for example, for Edra's 3190MW generation capacity, it would be expensive," said UOB-Kay Hian.
"Based on current replacement market value, it's worth RM11.6 billion."
The assumption was made based on a replacement cost of RM2.3 billion and RM1.6 billion for a gas-fired and coal-fired plant respectively.
"The wide pricing discrepancy i.e. RM16 billion as against RM11.6 billion would make the deal difficult in the immediate run," said UOB-Kay Hian.
Orignal From: TNB on losing streak amidst 1MDB woes
0 Komentar untuk "TNB on losing streak amidst 1MDB woes"