Felda has a new chairman in Tan Sri Megat Zaharuddin Megat Mohd Nor, whose immediate task is to see to it that Felda
KUALA LUMPUR: Federal Land Development Authority (Felda) is targeting a turnaround within two years.
Its newly appointed chairman, Tan Sri Megat Zaharuddin Megat Mohd Nor, said the firm's main priority now is to strengthen its cash flow and reduce debt.
“Right now we are working on monetising our assets in London, Kuching and Kota Kinabalu,” he told reporters at a press conference in Menara Felda on Thursday.
“We are also looking to restructure some of our loans,” he added.
Megat, the former chairman of Malayan Banking Bhd
, was appointed to his current post at Felda on July 27.
He said the assets include hotels, apartments and student hostels, which carry an acquisition cost of about RM2.2bil.
“We hope to at least get all the money back and started the selling process last year,” Megat said.
As at June 30, Felda was sitting on RM8.05bil in debt and plans to reduce it to RM6.5bil by the end of this year.
In recent years, Felda has increasingly been under the spotlight, owing to its involvement in a number of inexplicable deals.
In January this year, it had cooperated with an external forensic audit investigation carried out on the suspicious land title transfer of its Jalan Semarak land earmarked for the Kuala Lumpur Vertical City project.
In August, Economic Affairs Minister Datuk Seri Mohamed Azmin Ali said he would be presenting a White Paper on Felda in the next parliamentary sitting in October, which would lay out Felda’s situation and financial position as well as its strategic rehabilitation plan.
Megat said Felda would be providing the information and key findings for the White Paper.
“Turning around Felda is our job,” he stressed.
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