The output performance by the Minister of Finance (Incorporated)’s wholly-owned company, Technology Park Malaysia Corporation Sdn Bhd (TPM), had declined for the 2016-2019 period.

According to Auditor-General’s Report 2019 Series 1, TPM failed to meet the Finance Ministry’s minimum key performance indicator (KPI) requirement in 2018 and 2019 due to a decline in revenue from TPM’s major activities.

“The decline in the KPI was due to the challenges TPM faced in balancing revenue-generating and technopreneur development activities.

“Amidst challenging economic environment, TPM is making efforts to assist small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) under its programmes even though it has to provide service price advantage compared to the market price,” the report said.

However, it said that overall, the company’s financial position was stable, adding that although TPM had suffered an after tax loss in 2018, its accumulated profits remained positive.

It said the company’s total assets exceeded total liabilities by RM103.47 million between 2016 and 2018, while its cash balance and cash equivalents for 2018 were positive and had improved compared to the previous year.

The audit report also revealed that TPM’s financial liquidity stood at a ratio of between 2.67:1 and 4.56:1, thus the company remained capable of meeting its short-term obligations.

It also found that the company’s debt-to-asset ratio, which stood at between 78.4 per cent and 84.2 per cent, was unsatisfactory.

“This shows that TPM is too reliant on its liabilities, especially government grants which were recorded in the company’s financial statements for the purpose of project developments,” it said.

Additionally, the audit also revealed that TPM had not set a target for its strategic long-term business plan, but had prepared strategic business plans for all activities, including that of its subsidiaries, which were approved annually by its board of directors (BOD).

However, the preparation of a strategic long-term business plan for TPM as well as its subsidiaries was never discussed by the BOD during the audited period, thus affecting the performance of subsidiary companies which were non competitive, it added.

-- BERNAMA