FGV Holdings Bhd (FGV) has not yet received a formal notification from Putrajaya over a change in chairman despite the change in government and current chairman Azhar Abdul Hamid’s contract requiring renewal.
“My tenure is for three years, and I took over in September 2017. It is almost three years, so we probably need to sit down again with the government to see what their plans are,” Azhar told a virtual press conference today.
He also shared that FGV has a unique situation, as the government is a unique shareholder.
“This means my position is a government decision,” he said, adding that there were two other government-appointed directors on FGV’s board.
Azhar took over from Sulaiman Mahbob, who was serving as acting chairman following the resignation of Mohd Isa Abdul Samad.
But rumours of a chairman change have been abuzz after Prime Minister Muhyiddin Yassin swore in to office in March following a coup that saw the collapse of the Pakatan Harapan government.
Among the hallmarks of the Muhyiddin government is to offer loyalists from Perikatan Nasional (PN) plum posts in government-linked companies (GLCs). PN is an unregistered coalition consisting of Bersatu, Umno, PAS, Gabungan Parti Sarawak (GPS) and a few Sabah parties.
Some listed companies such as Tenaga Nasional Bhd (TNB) and Boustead Holdings Bhd have seen new chairmen from Umno. TNB chairman is Padang Terap MP Mahdzir Khalid while Boustead chairman is former Johor menteri besar Mohamed Khaled Nordin.
At the end of its 2019 financial year, FGV saw a revenue of RM12.26 bil, lower than the RM13.46 bil of the preceding year. However, FGV also reported a narrowed loss of RM356.66 mil, compared to the RM1.04 bil loss reported in its 2018 financial year.
FGV attributed this to improved crude palm oil (CPO) margins and significantly reduced operating costs as a result of tighter controls and improved efficiencies across the group, in addition to lower impairment losses amounting to RM17 mil. In 2018, impairment losses came up to RM151 mil.
At 2.38pm, FGV’s shares were last done at RM1.04, up 3 sen, with 8.05 million shares changing hands. – June 19, 2020
