KUALA LUMPUR (June 21): The country's largest private hospital operator KPJ Healthcare Bhd is expected to announce a new president and managing director soon, according to its chairman Datuk Md Arif Mahmood.
“We will make the announcement at the appropriate time. [We will announce it] soon,” he told reporters at a virtual briefing after the group’s annual general meeting on Thursday (June 22).
In September last year, it was reported that Kumpulan Wang Persaraan Diperbadankan (KWAP) chief investment officer Hazman Hilmi Sallahuddin might be poached to head KPJ Healthcare following the departure of Datuk Mohd Shukrie Mohd Salleh.
Prior to KWAP, Hazman was MD of Damansara Assets Sdn Bhd, a subsidiary of Johor Corp (JCorp).
JCorp is the largest shareholder in KPJ Healthcare with a 44.99% stake, followed by the Employees Provident Fund (10.97%), Waqaf An-Nur Corp Bhd (7.07%) and KWAP (5.52%), the group’s 2022 annual report showed.
“I must stress that I cannot comment on the speculation [about Hazman’s appointment],” said Md Ariff.
Whoever takes up the position of president and MD will have to manage the expectations of largest shareholder JCorp, which is said to be looking at raising the value of its investments.
Earlier this month, KPJ Healthcare announced the appointment of Datuk Mohamad Farid Salim as its new chief operating officer — a position that has been vacant since the departure of Suriaghandi Suppiah in July last year after eight months in the role.
KPJ Healthcare's share price, which has risen over 34% year-to-date, was flat at RM1.12 at Thursday’s noon break. At that price, the group was valued at RM5.07 billion.