KUALA LUMPUR: Sabah Energy Corporation Sdn Bhd (SEC) has completed its maiden RM350mil sukuk issuance under its RM3bil Sukuk Wakalah Programme.
In a joint statement, SEC and Maybank Investment Bank Bhd said the sukuk was assigned a long-term AAA rating with a stable outlook by RAM Rating Services Bhd.
The issuance was 2.2 times oversubscribed notwithstanding the market volatility amidst escalating geopolitical tensions.
They said the sukuk was successfully priced through a book-building exercise, marking the first such exercise by a Sabah state government-linked company.
SEC group chief executive officer Datuk Ir Adzmir Abd Rahman said the programme would provide the company with a scalable and flexible funding platform to support its PETA 2030 agenda.
“This inaugural issuance marks the establishment of our first Sukuk Wakalah Programme, which provides SEC with a scalable and flexible funding platform to support SEC’s PETA 2030 agenda in strengthening our gas and infrastructure core, expanding power generation and renewable energy, and enabling disciplined investments across Sabah’s energy value chain,” he said.
Adzmir said this would also support the objectives under SERAMP 2040, including strengthening energy security, accelerating the energy transition and improving the reliability of Sabah’s energy supply.
Maybank Investment Banking Group chief executive officer Michael Oh-Lau said the issuance would broaden and diversify SEC’s access to long-term ringgit funding while raising the profile of both SEC and Sabah among domestic and international institutional investors.
“The strong oversubscription reflects investors’ confidence in SEC’s credit strength and growth trajectory. We are proud to support Sabah’s infrastructure development and the state’s position within Asean’s energy ecosystem,” he said.
Maybank Investment Bank acted as the sole principal adviser, sole lead arranger, sole lead manager, sole sustainability structuring adviser, Shariah adviser and facility agent for the transaction.
SEC, which was corporatised in 1997, has evolved from a gas utility operator into a diversified and vertically integrated energy group.
It is Sabah’s sole natural gas aggregator, transporter and distributor, with interests spanning natural gas infrastructure, power generation, renewable energy, and offshore oil and gas support services.
