Thursday 28 Mar 2024
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KUALA LUMPUR (Oct 21): MEX II Sdn Bhd, the concessionaire of the Extended Maju Expressway (MEX II Highway) which is still under construction, said there will be no coupon payment due on Oct 30 for its RM150 million junior bonds.

This is because the MEX II Highway, also known as Lebuhraya Putrajaya-KLIA, has not commenced tolling as the project has yet to be completed.  

The commencement of tolling operations is one of the requirements for coupon payments to be distributed under the terms of the junior bonds and the concessionaire’s RM1.3 billion Sukuk Murabahah Programme.

"Accordingly, the coupon payment date has been deferred to the maturity date, i.e. April 27, 2035," MEX II said in a post on Bank Negara Malaysia’s (BNM) Fully Automated System for Issuing/Tendering (FAST) website today.

MEX II is owned by Maju Holdings Sdn Bhd.

On Aug 21, Malaysian Rating Corp Bhd (MARC) extended its MARCWatch negative placement on the RM150 million junior bonds as well as the RM1.3 billion sukuk programme, taking into account the concessionaire’s ongoing debt restructuring and substantial downside risk.
 
The rating agency first placed the ratings on the watch in May due to the concessionaire’s lack of sufficient progress with respect to the MEX II Highway and its inability to meet the project's milestones since the ratings were downgraded in October 2019.
 
In October 2019, MARC downgraded its ratings of the sukuk murabahah and junior bonds by two notches to "AIS" and "BBB" respectively to reflect the construction delay.   
 
MEX II is an 18km three-lane dual carriageway that will start at the Putrajaya Interchange of the MEX Expressway and merge with Leburaya KLIA in Sepang.  

> A previous version of this article did not specify the reason for the coupon payments to be deferred.

Edited ByS Kanagaraju
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