Malaysia's windfall tax -Will YTL Power actually pay anything?

As reported in THE EDGE ,5 June 2008:
Independent power producers (IPPs), which benefited significantly from highly subsidised fuel, have been dealt a major blow following the imposition of a 30% windfall tax on their return on assets (ROA) under the government’s restructured subsidy scheme.

Prime Minister Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi said yesterday the taxes would be implemented under the Windfall Profit Levy Act 1998 and would entail the IPPs contributing towards the higher cost of fuel such as gas for power generation. The tax will take effect from next month.

He said the 30% quantum would be imposed on the audited ROA threshold of 9%.
http://www.theedgedaily.com/cms/content.jsp?id=com.tms.cms.article.Article_56ce2976-cb73c03a-18992130-1d3b7060



However YTL Power International's ROA appears to have been consistently below the threshold:
Return on Average Assets
Quarterly
(Mar '08)- Annual-4.40%
(2007) Annual-5.49%
(TTM) -5.13%

http://finance.google.com/finance?q=KUL:YTLPOWR

It would appear that basing the windfall tax on the ROA gives YTL , and probably all other IPPs a convenient way out of paying the tax. IPPs are capital intensive, hence the base (ie the assets) will be high. But given leverage and steady, guaranteed revenue, the return on shareholders' equity can be relatively high: see my earlier post at http://sahathevan.blogspot.com/2007/06/how-god-decreed-that-ytl-power-have.html as well as
http://finance.google.com/finance?q=KUL:YTLPOWR

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

Government funding for the College Of Law PLT where students are assessed on the quality of their reflection on their work experience , not the quality of their work experience

Sydney is not Soweto, its Asian migrants are not coloureds, or persons of colour - South African Australian Judge Angus Morkel Stewart's decision in Faruqi v Hanson an insult to anyone who is not white

Ex NSW LPAB Executive Officer Louise Pritchard ,subject of queries from The Australian, hired by Sydney University since early 2019 -NSW LPAB has never explained her departure, UYSD the reasons for her appointment