This article first appeared in The Edge Malaysia Weekly on March 23, 2026 - March 29, 2026

PERMODALAN Nasional Bhd (PNB) has scrapped an initial plan to hive off its highway operating unit, Projek Lintasan Kota Holdings Sdn Bhd (Prolintas), which has a 51.02% stake in publicly traded Prolintas Infra Business Trust (KL:PLINTAS) or Prolintas IBT, among others.

Word of the planned sale surfaced about a year ago. By September, the government-linked investment company was understood to have narrowed down the potential buyers to just Tan Sri Azmil Khalili Khalid, who controls AFA group and is said to be the favourite, and IJM Corp Bhd (KL:IJM).

In an email response to The Edge on the progress of the sale, PNB says: “We have completed our strategic review of our investment in Prolintas. As part of this process, we evaluated a range of potential options, including a possible divestment, entry of a strategic partner or retention of the investment.

“After thorough assessment, we have decided to maintain our investment in Prolintas. Retaining the stake represents the most prudent and value-maximising path at this time, given the current market conditions and long-term fundamentals of the asset.”

Prolintas IBT holds the concessions for four urban highways — the Ampang-Kuala Lumpur Elevated Highway (AKLEH), Guthrie Corridor Expressway (GCE), Kajang Dispersal Link Expressway (Kajang SILK) and Lebuhraya Kemuning Shah Alam (LKSA) — which are understood to be performing well. Two other highways under Prolintas, the Sungai Besi-Ulu Kelang Expressway (SUKE) and Damansara-Shah Alam Highway (DASH), are said to be facing issues.

SUKE is a 24.4km toll highway running from Sri Petaling to Ulu Kelang that operates under a 55-year concession agreement that expires in December 2069, with a conditional extension of an additional 10 years. SUKE cost RM5.7 billion to construct and commenced collecting toll in October 2022.

The 20.1km DASH, which cost RM4.2 billion to build, connects Puncak Perdana in Shah Alam to the Penchala Interchange in Damansara. Operating under a concession that expires in 2069, it started collecting toll in December 2022.

Both DASH and SUKE, which are considerably newer than the highways held by Prolintas IBT, racked up large amounts of debt during construction and are unlikely to have turned the corner.

Prolintas had previously used debt facilities to finance the development of SUKE and DASH, which seem unlikely to be doing well. Projek Lintasan Sungai Besi-Ulu Klang Sdn Bhd, the wholly-owned subsidiary of Prolintas that operates SUKE, has total outstanding sukuk of RM2 billion, which is slated to expire on Nov 26, 2027.

Projek Lintasan Damansara-Shah Alam Sdn Bhd, the concessionaire for DASH, raised RM2.5 billion in Islamic term financing for the development of the elevated highway.

It is noteworthy that the plan to hive off Prolintas came about after the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission charged a number of high-ranking executives at the highway concessionaire in mid-2024.

When word of the sale by Prolintas came up, there were doubts about its veracity as Prolintas IBT’s initial public offering had just been held in March 2024.

For its financial year ended Dec 31, 2024, Prolintas suffered an after-tax loss of RM714.07 million, on the back of RM547.06 million in revenue, marking its third straight year of losses.

As at end-2024, Prolintas had total assets of RM16.77 billion and total liabilities of RM29.25 billion, while its accumulated losses stood at RM2.02 billion.

Prolintas IBT posted a net profit of RM28.85 million on the back of RM321.14 million in revenue for its financial year ended Dec 31, 2025. In FY2024, it registered a net profit of RM26.57 million on RM321.67 million in revenue, while its finance costs amounted to RM139.15 million.

As at end-2025, Prolintas IBT had deposits, cash and bank balances of RM224.63 million and other investments of RM297 million. Its long-term debt commitments amounted to RM2.35 billion and it had no short-term borrowings. The company had negative reserves of RM268.72 million and accumulated losses of RM229.84 million.

On its prospects, Prolintas IBT says: “Strategically located within the Klang Valley, the highways are well positioned to benefit from ongoing economic activity in the region. Frost & Sullivan forecasts the urban highway market in the Klang Valley to grow at a CAGR (compound annual growth rate) of 4.6%, from RM3.1 billion in 2023 to RM3.7 billion in 2027. The trustee-manager maintains an optimistic outlook regarding the future performance of the highways with a key focus to establish the highways as preferred routes for travel.”

Prolintas IBT units closed last Thursday at 94 sen each, translating into a market capitalisation of RM1.03 billion.

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