KUALA LUMPUR (Nov 20): Zelan Bhd’s (KL:ZELAN) chief executive officer Mohd Ariff Abd Samat has departed from the post three months after his appointment. 

Mohd Ariff resigned from the position effective immediately “to pursue other career opportunities”, according to the Practice Note 17 (PN17) construction engineering outfit’s bourse filing on Wednesday. 

The 42-year-old was appointed CEO in August, filling the post that had then been vacant for over a year after the company terminated his predecessor Hazimi Baharum’s contract in June last year. 

Zelan fell into PN17 categorisation in May last year after its external auditor Nexia SSY PLT expressed a disclaimer of opinion on its audited financial statements for the financial year ended Dec 31, 2022 (FY2022). 

The auditor flagged an unreconciled aggregate intercompany balance difference of about RM30.79 million between receivables and payables in Zelan's opening balances that was not eliminated in arriving at Zelan’s consolidated financial statements.

Nexia also noted that Zelan's unit, Zelan Holdings (M) Bhd, posted a net balance receivables of RM241.76 million as at end-FY2022, which needed to be fully impaired. This adjustment would cause the group's total assets to be reduced to RM559.56 million, while its total liabilities of RM715.72 million would exceed total assets by RM156.16 million.

About three weeks after falling into PN17 status, the group terminated Hazimi’s contract before the actual expiry of the contract of employment. 

Without disclosing any particular reason for the termination, Zelan said it gave Hazimi his three month's salary in lieu of the required notice as per his contract

Shares in Zelan stood unchanged at four sen, valuing the company at RM33.8 million.