The news of WCE raya traffic beats target has been overlooked. Any increase in revenue will go directly to profit as most costs are fixed, therefore greatly increasing the DCF valuation
PETALING JAYA: The West Coast Expressway’s traffic volume during the Hari Raya travel period was more than double of its initial estimate, as travellers chose the highway as an alternative route heading to and from the north.
WCE Holdings Bhd chief executive officer Lyndon Alfred Felix said the average daily traffic (ADT) was recorded at over 300,000 vehicles from April 11 to 14.
“The highest ADT was on April 13 when it crossed 350,000 vehicles. Meanwhile, the highest revenue per day achieved was more than RM600,000,” he told StarBiz.
This highway is one of biggest cash cow ever for WCE to reap, next 5 year revenue from this highway may reach 10 billion & beyond. You can imagine how far WCE can go?
If tolling revenue is not too far off Choivo's assessment cashflow ( broadly speaking ) perhaps there is something to salvage but section 7 has become the archilles heel.
As expected. No gains from the land disposal just like the preceding year, but good news being there's a higher traffic volume, and WCE need to expedite its construction progress
The West Coast Expressway (WCE) Project involves the development of a 233 kilometers tolled highway from Banting, Selangor to Taiping, Perak (including 40 kilometers of highway to be constructed later). The WCE Project is a build-operate-transfer project with a concession period of up to a maximum of 60 years effective from 20 December 2013.
The WCE Project is divided into 11 sections whereby 6 sections have been opened for traffic. These are Section 5 (New North Klang Straits Bypass - Bandar Bukit Raja Utara), Section 6 (Bandar Bukit Raja Utara – Assam Jawa), Section 8 (Hutan Melintang - Teluk Intan), Section 9 (Kampung Lekir - Changkat Cermin), Section 10 (Changkat Cermin - Beruas) and Section 11 (Beruas – Taiping Selatan). The recent opening of Section 11 signifies the full completion of the Perak alignment, spanning 120km within the WCE Project. The opening of Section 11’s Taiping Selatan provides direct access between our WCE to North South Expressway (NSE) at Changkat Jering in Taiping, Perak, providing immense significance to the region’s economic and infrastructure development.
Traffic volume on the operational sections has witnessed steady traffic growth, with an increase of 37% from the preceding year. The recent openings of Sections 6 and 11 have significantly amplified the WCE’s daily traffic volume. The sectional average daily traffic for 4Q FY2024 increased by a significant 53% compared to 4Q FY2023. During the recent Raya festive period in April 2024, the traffic volume achieved a peak of 350,000 sectional average daily traffic, a significant 150% surge from the previous record in December 2023 of 140,000 sectional average daily traffic. The Group expects a further increase once Section 1 and Section 2 are completed and operational in the near term.
The concession segment has reported a loss before tax in the current quarter mainly due to interest expense incurred in relation to project financing for completed sections of the WCE Project. In accordance with MFRS 123, an entity shall cease capitalising borrowing costs when substantially all the activities necessary to prepare the qualifying asset for its intended use is complete. The interest expense was capitalised as part of the infrastructure development expenditure prior to the completion of construction works. Upon the completion of sectional construction, the interest expense for these sections will be charged to the statement of profit or loss. The Group is expected to incur losses in the early years of toll operations due to the cessation of capitalisation of interest expenses for completed sections. Despite the loss before tax, the Group recorded an earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) of RM18.1 million for FY2024, indicating the Group is profitable at an operating level.
The construction of Section 1 (Banting – South Klang Valley Expressway (SKVE)) and Section 2 (SKVE – Shah Alam Expressway (KESAS)) has been completed and is currently at the inspection stage. The completion of these 2 sections will also provide connections to several existing highways, namely the South Klang Valley Expressway (SKVE) and the Shah Alam Expressway (KESAS), which would enhance the accessibility and connectivity of these areas along the alignment.
The construction for the final 3 sections namely, Section 3 (KESAS – Federal Highway Route 2), Section 4 (Federal Highway Route 2 – New North South Klang Straits Bypass (NNKSB)) and Section 7 (Assam Jawa – Tanjung Karang) is currently ongoing.
Going forward, the additional sectional toll revenue is expected to further improve the future financial performance of the Group in terms of cash flows and operating results. In the long run, once the entire alignment of WCE is fully operational, the Group expects a shift towards profitability as revenue growth outpaces interest cost.
Construction :
The Group’s construction segment, managed by WCE Maju Sdn Bhd (formerly known as KEB Builders Sdn Bhd) (“WCE Maju”), is focused on the timely execution and completion of its construction projects with a total contract sum of RM400 million. These projects entail a design, build and manage basis, the construction works of a proposed access from West Coast Expressway to a mixed development project in Kota Seri Langat (“the Seri Langat Project”) and construction works for Section 7, Part 2 of 2 (“Section 7B”) of the WCE Project which is approximately 10km in length from the beginning of the Assam Jawa Interchange towards the Tanjung Karang Interchange.
WCE Maju is focused on ensuring the successful execution of these projects to enhance sustainable growth in the construction segment.
30/5/2024
Post a Comment
People who like this
New Topic
You should check in on some of those fields below.
Title
Category
Comment
Confirmation
Click Confirm to delete this Forum Thread and all the associated comments.
This book is the result of the author's many years of experience and observation throughout his 26 years in the stockbroking industry. It was written for general public to learn to invest based on facts and not on fantasies or hearsay....
Xiao Zheng She
37 posts
Posted by Xiao Zheng She > 2024-04-29 12:18 | Report Abuse
YTL flies so much, still waiting for this to fly