This article first appeared in The Edge Malaysia Weekly on May 2, 2022 - May 8, 2022
DATUK Seri Abdul Farid Alias, who officially stepped down as Malayan Banking Bhd’s group president and CEO on April 30 after almost nine years in the role, is likely to emerge as a director at Sime Darby Bhd, according to sources.
“He is said to be joining Sime Darby’s board [of directors],” a source tells The Edge.
Abdul Farid, 54, had in January announced that he planned to leave the country’s largest banking group to make way for fresh leadership and thus did not seek an extension of his contract, which was due to expire on Aug 1.
Datuk Khairussaleh Ramli, who up until a few months ago was RHB Bank Bhd’s group managing director/CEO, takes over from Abdul Farid at Maybank on May 1.
When contacted for comment last Thursday, Abdul Farid said he would consider new roles only once he had left the bank.
“A few friends have called and asked me about the possibility of joining their board and, while I appreciate the call, I’ve said I prefer to speak after I step down from Maybank. Right now, there’s nothing that’s confirmed,” he tells The Edge, without naming any company.
There has been much interest in Abdul Farid’s next career move, given that many of the lender’s previous CEOs were tapped for key government, government-related or national-interest positions.
The banker, who prefers to keep a low profile, told The Edge in an interview in late March that he was unlikely to take up any roles in banking — “I cannot do anything in competition with Maybank, that’s not right” — or in government, and has no interest in going into politics.
“Don’t worry about where I’m going next, it’s not something that people should worry about. If there is anything that I’m looking for, I’m trying to find an opportunity outside of politics, outside of government, outside of banking, that will help me make more sense of my own being. I would like to be able to help in some way, perhaps more directly in the community that I live in,” he had said.
He said he chose to leave Maybank now as he felt that it was the right time. “It’s going to be nine years, and I don’t think a CEO should overstay.”
Permodalan Nasional Bhd is a strategic shareholder in both Maybank and Sime Darby.
A diversified conglomerate, Sime Darby’s key businesses are in the industrial, motor, logistics and healthcare sectors. Its board is made up of 11 directors — six of whom are independent — and led by chairman Tan Sri Samsudin Osman.
Samsudin was made chairman on July 16, 2020, after Datuk Abdul Rahman Ahmad left to take on a new role as CIMB Group Holdings Bhd’s group CEO. Sime Darby’s group CEO is Datuk Jeffri Salim Davidson.
Sime Darby reported a net profit of RM581 million for the first six months of the financial year ending June 30, 2022, down 36.43% year on year, owing to the absence of a one-off gain on the divestment of the group’s stake in Tesco Malaysia in the year-ago period.
On March 22, IHH Healthcare submitted a confidential, conditional, non-binding and indicative proposal to wholly acquire Ramsay Sime Darby Health Care Sdn Bhd for RM5.67 billion. The parties have agreed to a period of exclusivity to allow IHH to conduct due diligence and negotiate a sale and purchase agreement.
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