KUALA LUMPUR (Oct 28): The government should sack and replace the top brass of Felda Global Ventures Holdings Bhd (FGV), the world's third largest oil palm plantation operator, for the poor performance of its share price, said DAP national publicity secretary and Member of Parliament for Petaling Jaya Utara Tony Pua.

"Over the past six months for example, FGV was the worst performer of all plantation stocks listed on Bursa Malaysia," he told reporters at Parliament today.

Pua cited data as at Oct 15, 2014, which showed FGV’s share price dropping by 29.1% compared with its peers – IJM Plantations Bhd (-6.3%), IOI Corp Bhd (-2.7%), Genting Plantations Bhd (-9.4%) and Sime Darby Bhd (-1.6%).

“The closest poor performer (to FGV) was Kuala Lumpur Kepong Bhd whose share price dropped by 16.6% over the same period.

“Not only was FGV a terrible stock to own over the past six months, it was a consistent under-performer within any measurable period ever since its listing on the exchange (on June 28, 2012),” he said.

He added that since September, FGV shares have declined further to a low of RM3.24. “This represents a shocking 40% decline in its share price over just two years.”

Pua wants the top management of FGV to take collective responsibility in the poor performance of the plantation giant and not let it slide further downhill.

He also noted that Finance Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak's reply to Pua’s question on Oct 13, 2014 that the reason for the steep drop in FGV’s share price was due to the drop in the global crude palm oil prices was not acceptable.

“If the terrible performance of FGV was solely attributable to CPO prices, then surely all other plantation companies will be afflicted with the same poor performance,” he added.

Shares of FGV were down 2.29% to RM3.41 in morning trading today, giving it a market capitalisation of RM12.55 billion.