Newsbreak: Mohd Izani likely to take the helm at UEM

TheEdge Mon, Jan 14, 2019 06:00pm - 5 years View Original


DATUK Mohd Izani Ghani is likely to be appointed to the top job at UEM Group Bhd, succeeding former CEO Datuk Izzaddin Idris, sources close to Khazanah Nasional Bhd tell The Edge.

UEM is a wholly-owned unit of state-owned investment fund Khazanah.

However, executives at UEM, when contacted, were not aware of the appointment.

“An announcement is likely to be made soon, as soon as this week … the top guns at Khazanah already know about it,” one of the sources says.

To recap, Izzaddin left when his contract expired last October, but he was said to have informed the board of directors of UEM as early as last February of his intention to call it a day at the company. Izzadin had been at the helm of UEM since July 2009.

Mohd Izani, who will turn 50 this year, is currently executive director of investments and overseeing executive director of Khazanah’s regional office in Turkey.

He joined Khazanah in March 2005, after stints with government-controlled Putrajaya Holdings Sdn Bhd and the Renong group. He was Khazanah’s chief financial officer for seven years before assuming the current role in June 2017.

Mohd Izani currently sits on the board of Khazanah’s 33.21%-owned unit, Malaysia Airports Holdings Bhd, as a non-independent non-executive director, chairman of the board’s nomination and remuneration committee and a member of the audit committee and the finance and investment committee. He is also a board member of MAHB’s wholly-owned Istanbul Sabiha Gokcen International Airport Investment Development and Operation Inc and LGM Airport Operations Trade and Tourism Inc.

Apart from the above, he is also on the board of Bank Muamalat Bhd — an Islamic bank, in which Khazanah has 30% equity interest — and a director of Fajar Capital Ltd, Rantau Abang Capital Bhd, Feringghi Capital Ltd, Klebang Capital Ltd, Lido Capital Ltd and Cenang Capital Ltd, among others.

Mohd Izani has a degree in political science from The London School of Economics and Political Science, the UK, and a Bachelor of Science (Economics), after which he pursued an accounting degree under the Association of Chartered Certified Accountants and was admitted as a fellow in 1998. He is also a member of the Malaysian Institute of Accountants.

His appointment is key as it comes at a time when the government is looking at restructuring or even hiving off some its assets.

UEM is among the key holding companies for Khazanah. As at end-December 2017, UEM had total assets of RM26.83 billion, long-term borrowings of RM9.51 billion and short-term debt commitments amounting to RM5.31 billion.

For the year ended December 2017, it posted an after-tax profit of RM742.9 million on revenue of RM7.05 billion. To put things in perspective, the group had RM6.9 billion in accumulated profits.

Among the more prominent companies under UEM are 51%-owned highway operator PLUS Malaysia Bhd, publicly traded UEM Edgenta Bhd (68.15%), UEM Sunrise Bhd (66%) and Cement Industries of Malaysia Bhd as well as construction player UEM Builders Bhd.

The remaining 49% stake in PLUS Malaysia is held by the Employees Provident Fund.

There have been two proposals to take over PLUS Malaysia — by Tan Sri Abu Sahid Mohamed and his Maju group, and Tan Sri Halim Saad — but the government’s stance is not clear.

Halim’s plan to take over PLUS Malaysia generated much interest as he used to control the Renong group and United Engineers Malaysia Bhd, which morphed into UEM after Khazanah took over the assets from him.

There has also been interest reportedly shown in UEM’s stake in UEM Sunrise.

A few years ago, there was talk of UEM Builders being hived off, but this has since died down.

Other assets under the Khazanah banner that can be sold or have its shareholding pared down include Malaysia Airlines Bhd (wholly owned by Khazanah), Telekom Malaysia Bhd (where Khazanah has a 26.21% stake), Tenaga Nasional Bhd (28.14%) and semiconductor manufacturer SilTerra Malaysia Sdn Bhd.

 

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