KUALA LUMPUR (Mar 6): Malaysian Rating Corp Bhd (MARC) has suspended its AA-IS rating on Jimah East Power Sdn Bhd’s RM8.4 billion sukuk due to delays in its issuance and the proposed development of a 2,000 megawatt (MW) coal-fired power station (Project 3B) in Negeri Sembilan.

"MARC believes that the key factors and assumptions used to arrive at the rating would now need to be reassessed in light of the delay, which may have implications on meeting the project’s original timeline of commercial operations date," the rating agency said in a statement today.

MARC will be monitoring the developments on Jimah East Power and may reinstate the rating upon assessment of updated information on Project 3B from the project sponsors, it said.

Alternatively, the rating could be withdrawn within the next 90 days if no such information is forthcoming, it said.