This article first appeared in The Edge Malaysia Weekly on September 30, 2024 - October 6, 2024

On Sept 1, the employment contract of FGV Holdings Bhd (KL:FGV) CEO Datuk Mohd Nazrul Izam Mansor ended. He had been at the helm of FGV since August 2021.

In an announcement to the Bursa Malaysia on Sept 2, FGV said its chief financial officer Datuk Mohd Hairul Abdul Hamid was appointed “as acting group CEO to assume the roles and responsibilities of the group CEO until further notice”.

Now, almost a month after the abrupt departure of Mohd Nazrul — who had been briefing analysts just days before news that his contract wasn’t renewed — there has been no word on any new appointment to helm the agribusiness giant, which is 81.9%-controlled by the Federal Land Development Authority (FELDA), and no indication of whether Mohd Hairul will be bumped up to the top job.

In FGV’s case, other than grappling with the day-to-day operations, it is saddled with short-term debt commitments of RM2.34 billion and non-current liabilities of RM1.41 billion, while its deposits, cash and bank balances stood at RM1.48 billion as at end-June. Meanwhile, its accumulated losses stood at RM1.06 billion.

Other problems faced by plantation counters such as FGV include shortage of foreign labour, volatile commodity prices and climate change. It is worth noting that FGV had on June 30 submitted a petition to the US Customs and Border Protection to modify a Withhold Release Order, which prevents the entry of its products into the US.

FGV is also looking to resolve a shareholding spread issue, with only 13.09%, as opposed to the 25% required by regulators. FGV, which had already been given several extensions since February 2021, was granted an additional six months, until March 2025, to increase its public spread.

For a company like FGV — with a land bank of 334,000ha, which makes it one of the largest publicly traded plantation players in Malaysia — why isn’t there a transition plan in place, to ensure continuity of leadership and execution of strategies?

Clearly, the issues plaguing FGV require a full-time CEO at the helm, and an appointment should be made soon.

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