KUALA LUMPUR (Aug 28): There needs to be a stable relationship between the board and shareholders of FGV Holding Bhd for the group's transformation programme to be effectively implemented, group chief executive officer Datuk Haris Fadzilah Hassan (pictured) said today. He was alluding to a shareholders' meeting in June where major shareholders of the company sprang a surprise when they voted against a handful of resolutions related to the remuneration of directors.
At a press briefing today, Haris pointed out the directors continue to work hard at reviving the battered financials of the state-owned plantations group.
"The board is very committed to drive the transformation and they have not shown any sign of slowing down with regard to this effort," he said, adding it would be good for shareholders to recognise the effort.
"Officially, I think there have not been any meeting with regard to the directors' remuneration. I think that this is a shareholders' matter, they probably will have their own unofficial meeting which the management is not privy to.
"We hope that this [issue] can be resolved in an amicable and quick manner because we want some kind of stability [in the group]," said Haris.
At an annual general meeting in June, major shareholders of the company — the Federal Land Development Authority (Felda), Koperasi Permodalan Felda Malaysia Bhd and the Armed Forces Fund Board (LTAT) — voted against several resolutions including one related to the payment of directors' fees, prompting chairman Datuk Wira Azhar Abdul Hamid to observe that their actions were akin to agreeing for the directors to serve but not to be paid.
Another major shareholder, the Employees Provident Fund (EPF), had also reportedly later raised remuneration-related concerns in a letter, especially on Azhar's remuneration.
Previously theedgemarkets.com reported that Azhar was the highest paid board member. For the financial year ended Dec 31, 2018, he took home RM1.95 million — a third of the total RM5.74 million board remuneration proposed for FY18 (unchanged from FY17) — followed by Datuk Zakaria Arshad, who resigned as CEO and president in September last year.