This article first appeared in The Edge Malaysia Weekly on November 27, 2023 - December 3, 2023

Last week, two of Kumpulan Jetson Bhd’s board members resigned barely two months after joining the board, raising questions. Datuk Tengku Ibrahim Farihaddin Feissal stepped down as non-executive chairman after being appointed on Oct 6 to replace Datuk Teh Kian An, who had relinquished his executive chairman post due to health reasons. Co-founder Teh holds a 4.349% direct stake and an indirect stake of 1.695% in the group.

Independent non-executive director Datuk Mohd Efendi Omar resigned from the board last Friday after assuming the position also on Oct 6.

Both men cited the pursuit of personal interests in new fields as reasons for their resignation.

In October, Jetson announced a slew of changes, including the redesignation of independent director Edward Ng Kah Jiun to executive director, the appointment of Tunku Datuk Nooruddin Shahabuddin as non-executive deputy chairman and the retirement of Datuk Dr Joseph Ong Ah Soon, 81, as non-independent non-executive director.

Earlier, in July, Jetson announced the resignation of independent non-executive director Zhao Yanji, citing disagreement at the board level. Zhao had reportedly been a dissenting voice on several matters discussed during meetings. Her independent opinion had been taken as recalcitrance.

This was followed by the resignation of non-independent non-executive director Kington Tong Kum Loong. Tong ceased to be a substantial shareholder of Jetson on July 25 after disposing of 13.7 million shares through Next Peak Assets Ltd. At one point, Tong held a 20.722% direct stake and a 6.904% indirect stake in the company.

Jetson has been loss-making since the financial year ended Dec 31, 2016. It managed to narrow its net loss to RM1.76 million in 1HFY2023 from RM1.95 million a year earlier.

Perhaps things are about to change, the constant changes of directors notwithstanding? It’s difficult to say what is on the cards for the company but in a recent development, the group announced on Nov 1 that it had entered into a letter of intent with Datuk Seri Baljinder Singh to negotiate terms and conditions for the acquisition of a 51% stake in Magical Era (M) Sdn Bhd for RM32 million. Magical Era owns a 63.44-acre property known as Vendor City Industrial Park in Alor Gajah, Melaka.

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