By Violet Ooi
SP Setia’s acting CEO (chief executive officer) and president Voon Tin Yow is resigning from his positions effective January 1, 2015, according to a filing on Bursa Malaysia today.
Voon will also step down from his position as board member in SP Setia. He will be replaced by Khor Chap Jen as acting president and CEO, with Wong Tuck Wai as acting deputy president. Both appointments will take effect January 1, 2015.
Khor is currently SP Setia’s acting deputy president and Wong is executive vice president.
“It is time for me to step down after having served the company for two decades. I believe that the management and team will continue to build on the progress has been made,” said Voon in the statement.
Voon’s successor was Liew Kee Sin who left SP Setia last April after 18 years with the property developer. He also sold all his remaining shares in SP Setia. Liew had announced his resignation in January 2014.
However, Liew remains chairman of the Battersea Project Holding Company Limited, the joint venture holding company formed by the project partners —- SP Setia, Sime Darby and Employees Provident Fund (EPF) — at the request of SP Setia chairman Zaki Azmi so as to ensure continuity.
Liew’s term as Battersea Chairman ends in September 2015 but Sime Darby president and group chief executive Mohd Bakke Salleh had previously raised the possibility of a prolonged stay for Liew at the helm of Battersea earlier this year, remarking that he is “confident that (Liew) will continue to be chairman beyond 2015”.
Voon Tin Yow
Preceding Liew’s resignation, PNB (Permodalan Nasional Bhd) had launched a takeover of SP Setia in 2011, offering RM3.90 per share after crossing the 33% threshold via direct and indirect holdings.
However SP Setia board, led by Liew, thought the offer fundamentally undervalued the company and reportedly thought RM4.20 would be a more accurate reflection of SP Setia’s value.
The offer was then raised to RM3.95 per share by January 2012 or some RM6 billion to increase its stake in SP Setia to just below 70% via its two funds Yayasan Pelaburan Bumiputra and Skim Amanah Saham Bumiputera.
In the aftermath, PNB struck a deal with Liew whereby the latter would stay for three years following the takeover — which meant March 2015 at the latest — in addition to having the option to sell his shares at RM3.95 per share to PNB in several tranches. Liew left just a year under the agreed timeframe.
SP Setia Bhd in a statement today announced that the group had achieved total sales of RM3.81 billion in the first 10 months and RM1.42 billion for the third quarter of its financial year ending Oct 31, 2014 (FY14).
This quarter’s sales is mainly attributed to Battersea Power Station in United Kingdom Phase 2 residential launch whereby the group holds a 40% stake in this project which represents RM 735 million sales for this quarter.
The group achieved a profit before taxation (PBT) of RM187.6 million on the back of revenue totalling RM 902.6 million for the third quarter of FY14.
Its property development division recorded an 18% increase in PBT and a 10% increase in revenue as compared to the preceding period. The increase in revenue is mainly due to higher revenue recognition from property development as a result of higher overall group sales achieved since FY12.
“Current unbilled sales stand at RM10.9 billion which will contribute positively to earnings over the next few financial years. Thus despite softness in the Malaysian property market, we are cautiously optimistic that we will achieve satisfactory sales during this financial period,” Voon said.
You must be logged in to post a comment.