Prasarana says big losses due to public investment

Syarikat Prasarana Negara Berhad's (Prasarana) huge losses as reported in the Auditor-General's Report 2013 was due to heavy investment in public transportation, says its group managing director Shahril Mokhtar.

In a series of Twitter postings, Shahril said depreciation costs had to be factored in for the purchase of new busses and trains on top of financing cost.

This, he said, had impacted on the company's profit and lost statement.

"We borrow money to buy assets such as new trains and buses therefore these assets need to be deprecated. Borrowing money is not free.

"Annually, RM400m depreciation cost and RM300m financing cost! Wiped out the whole P&L (Profit and lost statement). What do you expect?" he said in a posting.

The audit report tabled in Parliament on Tuesday noted that Prasarana paid its employees between 1.5 months to two months bonus despite suffering a loss of RM763 million.

‘Who will foot the cost?’

Shahril did not take the report kindly, stating in another tweet, "Want Prasarana to make money? (I) am open to suggestions if you are willing to take away all Prasarana's depreciation and financing costs."

"Now (I) am thinking twice to buy more trains, buses, or building more park and ride facilities," he added.

Shahril warned the red ink will persist if Prasarana continues to purchase new busses and trains.

"If Prasarana buys more trains and buses then the depreciation costs will be higher therefore P&L looks bad and no bonus for employees," he tweeted yet again.

However, Shahril said the problem will not be replicated under the MyRapid Transit (MRT) project as Prasarana's role will be confined to operations only.

This, he explained, is because a separate entity, DanaInfra National Berhad will be tasked with raising funds for the project and therefore Prasarana would not be burdened by financing costs.

"That is why for MRT line one, government raised funds through DanaInfra, MRT Corp development and Prasarana only for operations. Perfect!" he tweeted.

Prasarana is responsible for the country's LRT and Monorail systems and also operates several bus networks in the country, most notably RapidKL and RapidPenang.

According to the Finance Ministry's response to the audit report, it said that bonuses were paid as the company had met its key performance index.

Furthermore, it said that the company was formed to fulfil social obligations more than for profit.