This article first appeared in The Edge Malaysia Weekly on October 2, 2023 - October 8, 2023
As the contracts of top executives are set to expire, a changing of the guard is expected at airport operator Malaysia Airports Holdings Bhd (MAHB) and AMMB Holdings Bhd (AmBank Group), the country’s sixth largest lender by assets.
According to sources, MAHB managing director Datuk Iskandar Mizal Mahmood could be stepping down when his two-year term expires this month. He assumed his current position on Oct 25, 2021.
Sources say his replacement could be an internal candidate. The position of CEO or MD at MAHB is appointed by the Ministry of Finance with the approval of the prime minister.
“There has been a slew of changes in MAHB and Iskandar is likely to leave. His contract is expiring soon and no extension has been given at press time,” one source tells The Edge.
While Iskandar Mizal is said to have been competent and capable of handling the airport operator, MAHB has been facing backlash from the public over frequent breakdowns of its aerotrain system at Terminal 1 of the Kuala Lumpur International Airport, which has recently been suspended for upgrading works.
In March this year, the 25-year-old aerotrain service experienced a breakdown due to mechanical and electronic failures, resulting in 114 passengers being stranded mid-way on the tracks.
In December 2021, Pestech International Bhd won the tender from MAHB for the development of the automated people movers (APM) for RM742.95 million. One of the two APMs is expected to be back in operation next year. In August, however, MAHB terminated Pestech’s contract, leaving the project in limbo. It is understood that MAHB is currently finalising the new contractor for the aerotrain replacement.
Prior to joining MAHB, Iskandar Mizal was group CEO of Pos Malaysia Bhd from 2013 to 2015. He also led Media Prima Bhd’s turnaround from 2019 to 2021 as group executive director, and then group MD. He had previously served MAHB as general manager between 1999 and 2003 where he led the initial public offering and listing of MAHB on Bursa Malaysia.
Last Friday, MAHB announced the appointment of Gordon Andrew Stewart as its chief operating officer (COO) for airport operations in Malaysia effective Oct 1.
Prior to his appointment, Stewart was the global projects director at DAA International, a global airports management, consulting and investment group headquartered in Dublin, Ireland, that manages international airports across the world, including in Europe and the Middle East. MAHB says he has 33 years of experience in multiple industries including aviation, rail and information technology.
“Stewart joins us at a pivotal juncture of our strategic growth journey, as we double down on bringing the operations of our core business to the next level. I am confident that he will assist in steering us towards innovative and sustainable operational excellence in our pursuit to be an operator of world-class airports,” Iskandar Mizal says in a filing with Bursa Malaysia.
Since April, MAHB has announced several changes to its board of directors, that include the departure of four directors, including Tan Sri Mohamad Salim Fateh Din, who also ceased to be the chairman of the board finance and investment committee and member of the board procurement committee. The others were Datuk Normah Osman, Datuk Azailiza Mohd Ahad and Datuk Johan Mahmood Merican.
Over at AmBank Group, the frontrunner to replace its group CEO Datuk Sulaiman Mohd Tahir is internal candidate Jamie Ling Fou-Tsong, the banking group’s current chief financial officer (CFO).
Another potential candidate is Syed Ahmad Taufik Albar, who is currently the managing director of group wholesale banking at RHB Bank Bhd.
“The changes at the helm of AmBank are because Sulaiman has reached retirement age,” a source says.
The Edge reported on Sept 11 that Sulaiman will be leaving the group after eight years at the helm. His contract is understood to be expiring next month.
Ling has been with AmBank since 2017, when he was appointed as CFO to replace Mandy Simpson upon the end of her contract. Ling previously served as regional CFO for Hong Kong, Greater China and North Asia at Standard Chartered Bank (Hong Kong) Ltd.
Syed Taufiq joined RHB Banking Group back in November 2016 as group CFO until January 2021, and was subsequently made MD of group international business. He was appointed as the MD of group wholesale banking on May 16 last year.
Over the years, there has been market talk that AmBank Group was a takeover target, which also included rumours of ride-hailing app Grab looking to acquire a stake in the bank. There was also talk that AmBank Group could be merging with RHB back in 2017, but Sulaiman said in May last year that there was no possible merger between the two banks.
He stressed that a merger between AmBank Group and RHB Bank would be an expensive exercise as it involves consolidations between entities. “That would not be the flavour of the current banking industry. The aim now is to expand the customer base and [going] digital is certainly a more viable way to do it. As of now, we are not in talks with any banks about any mergers or acquisitions,” he adds.”
Rumours of a merger between RHB and AmBank Group go as far back as 2007, though the companies have denied it several times in the past.
It was reported that ANZ Banking Group, which owns a 21.68% stake in AmBank, has been weighing a sale of its stake since early last year. Meanwhile, AmBank’s former chairman Tan Sri Azman Hashim, who has a 11.83% stake, has expressed his intention to pare down his shareholding, sources say.
Azman stepped down from his role as chairman of the bank on March 31 last year.
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