Announcement on Monday?

The Sime Darby Berhad board is meeting on Monday, June 14. I heard that some kind of announcement is expected. I doubt it is going to be as dramatic as the Board members accepting responsibility for the RM2.03 billion losses and resigning en bloc, like most of us would like to hear.

Perhaps the announcement of the new President and Group Chief Executive?

Stay tuned to this blog. I may be able to give you a headstart.

Sime Darby board must be accountable, says Kadir

My former boss and prominent journalist cum blogger Datuk A. Kadir Jasin wrote an interesting piece in his blog Other Thots. I reproduce the full piece here:

MONDAY, JUNE 07, 2010
Isu Sime Darby: Hukum Seorang, Hukum Semua
A Kadir Jasin

[Komen menggunakan pengenalan anonymous TIDAK AKAN DILAYAN. Sila gunakan nama sebenar atau nama samaran. Jikalau menggunakan anonymous, sila nyatakan nama di penghujung komen. Ulasan yang mengandungi unsur fitnah, hasutan, perkauman dan bahasa kesat tidak akan disiarkan. Ulasan yang terkeluar daripada tajuk tidak akan diberi keutamaan.]

URA-URA Kelab Penyokong Kerajaan Barisan Nasional (BBCBN) hendak mendesak kerajaan agar tidak lagi melantik pesara sektor awam menganggotai lembaga pengarah syarikat-syarikat berkaitan kerajaan (GLC) ada baik dan buruknya.

Laporan media massa mengatakan cadangan itu diuar-uarkan (bukan war-war) berikutan kerugian besar yang dialami dua GLC iaitu Sime Darby Berhad dan Pos Malaysia Berhad.

Timbalan Pengerusi Kelab, Bung Moktar Radin, memberitahu portal berita The Malaysian Insider dia akan membangkitkan perkara itu dalam sidang Dewan Rakyat yang bermula hari ini.

“Kalau mereka tidak berminat (menerajui syarikat-syarikat besar) jangan paksa mereka memegang jawatan pengarah khususnya di syarikat-syarikat besar dan ternama macam Sime Darby,” kata Ahli Parlimen Kinabatangan, Sabah, itu.

Sebarang usaha untuk mendalami kefahaman mengenai kerugian atau prestasi buruk GLC, khasnya oleh Parlimen, adalah dialu-alukan. Malah ia satu kewajipan.

Namun adalah tidak adil dan tidak tepat menyalahkan ahli lembaga pengarah (ALP) yang terdiri daripada bekas pegawai kerajaan sahaja. Tindak-tanduk pengurusan pun wajib didalami juga.

Kita ambil contoh Sime Darby (SD). Ia sudah beberapa kali mengalami masalah yang menyebabkan kerugian berbilion ringgit. Mungkin ramai sudah lupa kemuflisan Sime Bank dan kerugian besar SD pada akhir tahun 1990an.

Sebenarnya kali ini SD tidak rugi. Malaj bagi separuh pertama tahun ini ia mencatatkan RM1.113 bilion keuntungan. Yang rugi lebih RM1 bilion itu adalah operasi minyak dan gas di Teluk Parsi dan pembinaan penjana elektrik hidro Bakun.

Kerugian operasi ini menjadi isu sensasi kerana SD baru sahaja menelan dua syarikat Permodalan Nasional Berhad (PNB) yang lain iaitu Golden Hope dan Guthrie Corporation.

Apabila penggabungan ini diilhamkan ketika pentadbiran Abdullah Ahmad Badawi dan didalangi oleh CIMB Bank atas nama Synergy Drive Sdn Bhd. pada tahun 2007, ramai yang menantangnya, termasuk PNB walaupun secara diam-diam.

Sebelum penggabungan, ketiga-tiga syarikat perladangan PNB itu beroperasi dengan menguntungkan walaupun ramai ALPnya terdiri daripada pesara awam, termasuk Pengerusi PNB, Ahmad Sarji Abdul Hamid.

Tetapi apabila SD siap digabungkan dan diuar-uarkan sebagai syarikat perladangan kepada sawit terbesar di dunia, bekas Timbalan Perdana Menteri, Musa Hitam, dilantik pengerusi dengan Ahmad Sarji sebagai timbalan.

Bukan Musa sahaja yang menjadi pengerusi atau ALP GLC. Ramai lagi ahli politik, sama ada yang bersara atau masih cergas, menjadi pengerusi dan ALP GLC. Jadi jangan salahkan ALP yang terdiri daripada pesara awam sahaja.

Malah ada ALP yang terdiri daripada orang politik sangat teruk. Ada ketua dan timbalan ketua bahagian yang tak tahu apa-apa pun (clueless) mengenai perniagaan dilantik untuk dapat elaun. Jadi Bung Mokthar wajib juga bahaskan peranan ALP yang terdiri daripada orang politik.

Khusus mengenai SD, saya lebih cenderung menganggapnya sebagai syarikat amanah Bumiputera dan bukan GLC. GLC milik semua rakyat Malaysia tetapi agensi amanah seperti PNB adalah milik Bumiputera.

Saya kata begitu kerana majoriti saham SD dipegang oleh Skim Amanah Saham Bumiputera dan PNB. PNB adalah agensi amanah Bumiputera.

Mengenai pelantikan menjadi APP ini, kita kena juga tanya, siapa yang lantik mereka kalau bukan kerajaan sendiri? Akibatnya, jadilah mereka pengarah bebas yang tidak bebas.

Pada satu masa dulu, SD mempunyai apa yang dipanggil International Board of Directors atau Lembaga Pengarah Antarabangsa yang terdiri daripada orang kenamaan Asia dan dunia.

Saya pernah beberapa kali dijemput oleh Pengerusi SD waktu itu, Allahyarham Tun Dr Ismail Mohd Ali, untuk makan tengah hari bersama mereka. Salah seorang yang saya masih ingat adalah Sir David Li Kwok-po yang kini berupa pengerusi dan ketua eksekutif Bank of East Asia, Hong Kong.

Jadi, dalam hal SD ini adalah tidak patut menyalahkan dan menghukum seorang sahaja iaitu ketua pegawai eksekutif, Ahmad Zubir Murshid.

Keseluruhan ALP dan pengurusan kanan yang membantu Ahmad Zubir wajib dipertanggungjawabkan. Begitu juga juruaudit luar jika mereka gagal membuat catatan (qualification) dalam audit tahunan mereka.
Posted by A KADIR JASIN at 8:11 AM 27 comments

Tun M: Sime Darby Board must be held responsible for losses

The Board of Directors of Sime Darby Berhad must take responsibility for the RM2.03 billion ringgit losses inccured by the group.

Former Prime Minister Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad said the Board had fiduciary duties to shareholders and therefore, could not claim ignorance to the events that led to the massive losses.

Such an excuse, he said, did not make sense, as he himself was aware of Sime Darby's losses from as early as 2007.

Dr Mahathir said while the Group Chief Executive was responsible for the losses, the Board of Directors should also be held liable.

“If it had happened in another country, the Board would have resigned by now”, he said.

Dr Mahathir said this in an interview with TV3 this morning.

Subsidy cuts - shouldn't the corporate sector sacrifice too?

Subsidy cuts are inevitable. Let's accept that. Eventually they have to go. The Government cannot go on subsidising everything under the sun. It's going to impact the country's economy, although I doubt that it's going to be as dramatic as Minister in the Prime Minister's Department and the CEO of the Performance Management and Delivery Unit(Pemandu), Datuk Idris Jala put it.

I don't think any Malaysian in his or her right mind wants to continue to see Singaporeans travelling to Johor Baru to fill subsidised petrol or to shop simply because it's cheaper. Similarly, we don't want to see the Thais or Malaysians up north smuggling petrol and subsidised goods into Thailand to make quick profits. Every Malaysian would agree that this should stop.

It is a sin to allow foreigners to benefit from this at the expense of the country's economic well-being.

It is a fact that the Government of today led by Datuk Seri Mohd Najib Tun Razak is saddled by the deficit accumulated over the years. It's important that the deficit which now stands at almost RM300 billion is reduced or better, cleared, so that our vision to become an industrialised and a high income nation by 2020 can be realised.

However, my concern is the poor. The Government has to device a strategy to ensure that the hardcore poor and the vulnerable group do not end up poorer. While we vigorously pursue the developed nation status, we should not allow the disparity between the rich and the poor to widen. Poverty does not sustain stability and hunger does not sustain democracy.

The Government must be seen to act. The poor must be protected at all costs. One way is to introduce minimum wage. We have been arguing about this for a long time, but we are not getting anywhere.

By paying low wages, the rich employers are in fact, being subsidised. There are a few plantation companies in Malaysia which choose not to become members of the Malaysian Agricultural Producers Association(MAPA) so that they do not have to subscribe to the National Union of Plantation Workers (NUPW) basic monthly salary requirement. This is an outright exploitation of workers.

There are also discrepancies in other areas. One which quickly comes to mind is the energy sector. If the Government is considering a tariff hike, then Tenaga Nasional Berhad must re-negotiate its contracts with the Independent Power Producers (IPPs). Currently, power produced by the IPPs are being forced down TNB's throat, although it doesn't really need it.

TNB's current reserve power margin stands at 44.7 per cent. It may require about 20 per cent reserve for emergencies, but the remaining 25 per cent is left idle. This is absolute waste of money.

Granted that there is a contract between TNB and the IPPs requiring the former to buy the power produced by the latter, irrespective of the need. But all contracts can be re-negotiated. Even at the absence of a clause in the contract which allows re-negotiation, there is a provision in the Law of Contract which allows it.

I am sure, after many years, the IPPs have recouped their investments and have even made a lot of profit. As such, during crunch time, the IPPs should demonstrate good corporate citizenry by agreeing to re-negotiate their contracts. This is national service, so to speak.

For the country's sake, the IPPs should be flexible. If the country's financial position takes a dip, they too will suffer.

How do we explain to the rakyat that TNB is making the rich IPPs even richer by buying power that it does not need? How do we explain to the rakyat that they have to pay higher electricity tariff while at the same time, TNB has reserve power going to waste. Does it make economic sense?

If the Government is asking the rakyat to tighten their belts, it should do the same with the corporate sector.

My argument also extends to the highway toll concessionaires, while they make billions of ringgit, they insist on raising the toll each time the rates are up for revision. They insist on doing so even during a crisis.

During difficult times, all including the corporate sector, must sacrifice. The rakyat alone should not bear the burden. WE are after all the nation.