Scomi Marine set for a coal lift

Scomi Marine Bhd’s increase in coal-carrying capacity by 76% in Indonesia should translate into an equivalent earnings contribution in the coming quarters, barring unforeseen circumstances, said chief financial officer Loong Chun Nee.

She was referring to Scomi Marine taking delivery of 13 new vessels that serve its Indonesian operations along the Barito River in Southern Kalimantan.

The vessels, consisting mainly of tugs and barges, would support its client, PT Adaro Indonesia, which had increased its coal production from 2.5 million tonnes to 3 million tonnes per month, Loong said after the company AGM yesterday.

Scomi Marine was also expecting the delivery of a further three similar 12,000-deadweight tonnes vessels in the next few months. The company currently operates in excess of 150 vessels, including those registered to subsidiaries PT Rig Tenders Indonesia Tbk and CH Offshore Ltd.

On the company’s deal to transport 500,000 tonnes of coal to Tenaga Nasional Bhd’s (TNB) Tanjung Bin power plant in Johor, Loong said it was expecting to receive a finalised contract in the next few weeks to replace the current letter of intent received in April from TNB.

The transportation of coal was scheduled to start in September, she said. Meanwhile, Scomi Marine’s sister company, Scomi Engineering Bhd, is looking at diversifying its revenue stream, which is currently predominantly from the oil and gas sector.

The company was looking to have a 50:50 ratio from oil and gas versus logistics engineering, senior vice-president Hilmy Zaini Zainal said after the company AGM yesterday.

”That is why we are expanding our transportation and logistics engineering division. Hopefully, in the next two to three years when the (logistics) projects materialise, the contributions from the divisions will balance out at roughly half-half,” he said.

On the Penang monorail project, Hilmy said the company would be submitting a final bid in the next few weeks, having already put in a preliminary bid.

Scomi Engineering’s proposed acquisition of 51% stake in MTrans Transportation Systems Sdn Bhd, if approved, would mean that MTrans would ”play an important role in any bid we make for any transportation and logistics projects,” said Hilmy.

The technical, financial and legal due diligence for the acquisition had already been completed and was only awaiting approvals from the various authorities, he said.

MTrans, through wholly-owned subsidiary MTrans Technology Sdn Bhd, designed, manufactured, installed and commissioned 12 monorail train sets of two-car vehicles and all related systems and equipment for KL Monorail in 2003.

At present, MTrans, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Kiara Kilau Sdn Bhd, is reportedly a special-purpose vehicle of MTrans Holdings Sdn Bhd executive chairman David Chew Kiat Choon.

MTrans Holdings is the parent company of KL Infrastructure Group Bhd that built the 65km Kuala Lumpur Monorail.

Source: biz.thestar.com.my