Four highways managed by Amanat Lebuhraya Rakyat (ALR) will not see toll hikes until the end of each of their concession periods, The Star reports. The highways include the Shah Alam Expressway (KESAS), Stormwater Management and Road Tunnel (SMART), Sprint Expressway and Damansara-Puchong Expressway (LDP).
According to ALR group CEO Sazally Saidi, the move would generate approximately between RM 800 million to RM1 billion in direct savings for motorists and the government in terms of toll compensations.
ALR was established in late 2021 as a private, special purpose, not-for-profit entity to hasten the shortening of the toll concessions and the return of the four highways to the Malaysian government. In October 2022, ALR completed the acquisition of all the securities of four highway concession companies – KESAS, Sprint, Litrak and SMART – managing these highways. The same month also saw ALR successfully issue its sukuk murabahah worth RM5.5 billion to fund the acquisitions.
Group chief transformation and corporate officer Low Jo-Lyn said the current toll rates for the four highways were expected to be maintained for the next 10 years at least. “ALR’s sukuk which was issued in 2022 has a finite maturity period of 15 years but the more traffic there is on our highways, the shorter the concessions will be. As such, it is forecasted that ALR should be able to repay the sukuk by 2033 or 2034,” Low explained.
It was also revealed that early settlement of the sukuk would shorten the toll concessions to the government and the company structure was expected to generate an estimated RM500 million in direct savings for motorists per annum from the group’s highways.
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