This article first appeared in The Edge Financial Daily on June 21, 2017

KUALA LUMPUR: Datuk Wira Azhar Abdul Hamid is widely tipped to take over from Datuk Zakaria Arshad as chief executive offer (CEO) of the troubled Felda Global Ventures Holdings Bhd (FGV), amid his sudden resignation as group managing director (MD) of Malakoff Corp Bhd yesterday.

According to sources, Azhar is a good fit for the position due to his background in the plantation sector.

“The government is looking for an independent, capable and strong individual with deep knowledge in the plantation sector to lead FGV, and Azhar seems just the right fit,” one source told The Edge Financial Daily yesterday.

On June 12, The Edge Malaysia Weekly reported that Azhar was one of three contenders likely to take over the helm of the plantation giant. The other two were Tan Sri Ismee Ismail, former managing director and CEO of pilgrim fund Lembaga Tabung Haji and Tan Sri Mohd Bakke Salleh, president and CEO of Sime Darby Bhd.

The report also stated that Azhar was the front runner for the post as he, at 56, would still be able to cope with the pressure to perform at FGV.

Zakaria, along with three other senior executives, have been suspended from their duties since June 6 amid a probe into alleged irregularities in business dealings between Afghan company Safitex Trading LLC and FGV’s 72%-owned subsidiary Delima Oil Products Sdn Bhd. However, Zakaria remains a favourite among the second generation of Federal Land Development Authority (Felda) settlers as the 57-year-old is himself one.

Yesterday, Malakoff announced that Azhar had resigned from his post as group MD after more than a year effective June 30, citing personal and professional reasons.

In the interim, Habib Husin, 57, has been appointed acting CEO effective July 1, 2017. Habib will remain as the executive vice-president of operations at Malakoff.

Azhar, a chartered accountant by training, was appointed to his current post on May 1, 2016. Prior to that, he was the president and group MD of Tradewinds Corp Bhd before relinquishing the position to be its chairman.

In a filing with Bursa Malaysia yesterday, Malakoff noted that Azhar began his career in the UK where he served British Telecom plc as an internal auditor manager from 1989 to 1991. He then joined Malaysian Co-Operative Insurance Society Ltd as head of internal audit and later as head of finance prior to joining the Sime Darby in 1994.

Azhar was appointed group CEO of Pernas International Holdings Bhd from November 2001 till October 2002. In 2003, he returned to Sime Darby Group as business development director of Sime Darby Plantation Sdn Bhd and he went on to become the MD of Tractors Malaysia Holdings Bhd, MD of Sime Darby Plantation, and acting president and group CEO overseeing the entire Sime Darby Group’s operations until August 2010.

Azhar then joined Mass Rapid Transit Corp Sdn Bhd as its CEO from 2011 till 2014.

In separate filings with Bursa yesterday, Malakoff also announced that Datuk Hasni Harun had been appointed independent and non-executive chairman of the company, replacing Tan Sri Syed Anwar Jamalullail who had resigned due to other professional commitments.

Syed Anwar, 65, was appointed to his current post on Dec 1, 2014. He commenced his career with Malaysia Airline System Bhd in 1975 as a financial accountant before moving on to hold senior positions in various companies. His last position was as the group MD of Amanah Capital Partners Bhd.

Currently, Syed Anwar is the chairman of Malaysia Airports Holdings Bhd, Nestle (M) Bhd, Cahya Mata Sarawak Bhd and Lembaga Zakat Selangor. He is also the chancellor of Segi University.

Hasni, 60, is a member of the Malaysian Institute of Accountants. He is also currently the chairman of Gas Malaysia Bhd and a director of Permodalan Felcra Sdn Bhd.

According to Malakoff, Hasni held several senior positions in the Accountant-General’s Office from 1980 to 1994. He was also the senior general manager of the investment department at the Employees Provident Fund from 1994 to 2001 and the MD of RHB Asset Management Sdn Bhd from 2001 until 2006. He then joined DRB-Hicom Bhd as group chief financial officer (CFO) until December 2006.

In January 2007, he joined MMC Corp Bhd as the group chief operating officer. In March 2008, he was appointed the CEO for Malaysia, prior to his appointment as the group MD of MMC in May 2010 until June 2013.

On Monday, FGV announced the abrupt resignation of Tan Sri Mohd Isa Abdul Samad as chairman of the group, to be replaced by its independent and non-executive director Tan Sri Dr Sulaiman Mahbob as acting chairman.

In a separate statement, the Prime Minister’s Office (PMO) had also announced that Mohd Isa will become the acting chairman of the Land Public Transport Commission.

This followed the completion of Datuk Seri Idris Jala’s independent report on FGV, whose findings revealed that there were sufficient facts and reasonable grounds warranting the FGV board to initiate disciplinary proceedings against its CEO, group CFO and two other senior management officials.

The PMO added that FGV should continue with its ongoing disciplinary proceedings and that during the domestic inquiries, the four management officials will be able to defend themselves.

Earlier, the internal investigation allegedly found Zakaria to have provided unapproved extension of a credit limit line by Delima Oil to Safitex, resulting in Safitex’s debt to Delima Oil to increase from US$8.3 million at the end of 2015 to US$11.7 million at the end of 2016. Zakaria had earlier said that Safitex will pay off the debt by the end of this month.

FGV shares closed down seven sen or 3.8% to RM1.77 yesterday, giving a market capitalisation of RM6.46 billion.