One quarter after the Paradigm REIT listing WCT’s balance-sheet will show the three malls (RM 2.4 bn) removed from investment properties, gross debt cut by about RM 1.3 bn and cash bolstered by the same amount before being used to repay loans, taking net debt from RM 2.0 bn to roughly RM 0.7 bn and leaving the group in a net-cash position with gearing close to zero; equity book value per share stays at RM 2.11 because the transfer is at carrying amount. The income statement will lose the malls’ rental stream (about RM 270 m revenue and RM 29 m EBITDA annually), but finance cost drops by roughly RM 60 m a year, so quarterly EBITDA falls by RM 7 m while interest expense falls by RM 15 m, leaving net profit slightly positive versus the prior run-rate; the next quarterly report will therefore show lower top-line, much lower debt, higher interest cover and a small uplift in recurring EPS.Read more