UPDATED 2.30PM: Let’s take a quick look at Puncak Niaga, one of the main water concessionaires in Selangor.

You can see that the firm is making huge profits. (Profits for 2006 were higher as there was a gain arising from the partial disposal of a subsidiary of RM206m in 2006.)

The group had close to a billion ringgit in deposits, cash, and bank balances as at 31 December 2007 and a net current asset ratio of 1.2. In other words, very liquid.

Syabas, which is 70 per cent owned by Puncak Niaga, received a government grant of RM250 million (that’s our money) “solely for the purpose of financing the costs and expenditure of the non-revenue water” to reduce unaccountable water loss.

The federal government also provided a support loan (current carrying amount close to RM80 million) to finance construction of the Wangsa Maju water treatment plant. It was originally repayable over 20 years (from 1999) at 8 per cent interest rate. But in 2004, the federal government “restructured” the loan: the interest rate was reduced to 3 per cent per annum retrospectively and the repayment schedule revised. How thoughtful.

Having made super profits with the help of public money, Puncak Niaga is now asking for a higher price than what the Selangor government is prepared to pay (RM1.6 billion for Puncak Niaga and RM1.5 billion for Syabas) to nationalise water assets in the state.