By Khairie Hisyam
Liew Kee Sin has finally given his resignation notice and will leave SP Setia on April 30, 2014. Yet the answer to one of the property industry’s biggest questions in recent times only gave rise to more questions about Liew’s doings and SP Setia’s future.
At last the big question hanging over SP Setia over the past couple of years is answered — we now know exactly when Liew Kee Sin is leaving the company he has led to the forefront of the industry over the years.
Investors should now be happy to have that uncertainty removed so we can all move on. Not least of which Permodalan Nasional Berhad (PNB), SP Setia’s majority shareholder, who can now breathe easier since they would not have to deal with the conflict of interest surrounding Liew and fast-rising Eco World Development Holdings.
Yet Tiger can’t help but feel that the announcement of Liew’s notice of resignation yesterday also raised many more question marks that beg answering. For one, is he really retiring?
“With my children all growing up and starting out on their own career paths, I am looking forward to spending more time with them, mentoring and guiding them,” said Liew in a statement yesterday.
That sounds great, but of course there is the matter of him staying on as chairman of the Battersea Project Holding Company Limited as well as managing director of Qinzhou Development (Malaysia) Consortium Sdn Bhd until September 2015, which struck Tiger as odd. After so many years, why postpone full retirement further?
If Tiger were to retire after a long, glorious career such as Liew’s to be with its children, Tiger would let go completely and just spend as much time as possible for quality family time.
Of course Tiger acknowledges that Liew’s decision to stay in these positions for a while longer is due to a request by SP Setia chairman Zaki Azmi, although taking that at face value, Tiger wonders why Zaki asked Liew to stay in the first place.
Continuity, perhaps? Then again we have known with certainty since 2012 that Liew’s departure is going to happen — the only unknown in this matter was when. Certainly a couple of years is more than enough to prepare SP Setia for life without Liew, or looking at it differently, what would another one year plus contribute?
Another interesting thing to note is that chief financial officer Teow Leong Seng also tendered his resignation on the same day when he was a crucial part of the post-Liew succession plan.
To recap, SP Setia’s succession plan was for current chief operating officer Voon Tin Yow to step up as chief executive officer while Teow was to take over Voon’s position as number two. Now that seems off with Teow leaving too and the question is why.
Is he leaving to join another company? Teow’s reason for resigning, according to a Bursa filing, is to pursue his personal goals and other career aspirations after all. But which company remains the question and that could very well be Eco World, which has been heavily speculated as Liew’s personal vehicle for a second chapter in the property industry.
Ironically Teow himself was quoted last June as saying the real concern with Liew’s departure is whether people would follow Liew out the door or leave to join other real estate companies. “I am hoping not,” said Teow.
Anyway, with Teow leaving shareholders would understandably feel peeved at the fact that the long-term incentive plan (LTIP) by which employees can be awarded free shares did not seem to fulfill its intended purpose of talent retention — even someone of Teow’s seniority would not stay despite having been in SP Setia for nearly as long as Liew has.
Never mind the dilutive effect of the scheme, which was examined here (and defended here by the company). Teow was among the recipients of the first free shares award, which saw him get 280,000 free shares on May 6, 2013.
At today’s closing price of RM2.90, those free shares are worth a little over RM800,000 that was meant to “motivate and encourage … employees towards a greater level of commitment, dedication, loyalty and to enhance productivity” but apparently did not.
But to be fair Tiger would not fault Teow for chasing greener pastures if he believes he would fare better elsewhere. It is his life and his career, after all.
With Liew and Teow leaving, the spotlight is now on Voon, who joined SP Setia together with Liew way back in 1996. Voon will be acting president and chief executive officer while his acting deputy president will be recent addition to the board Khor Chap Jen, which is “consistent with the management succession plan” according to SP Setia.
Wait, consistent is it? The use of that word puzzles Tiger, since clearly the plan is not whole anymore with Teow not taking up the chief operating officer position as planned.
Another issue is why Voon is “acting” president and chief executive officer instead of receiving a permanent appointment.
In SP Setia chairman Zaki Azmi’s words:
“Over the next year the Board also intends to actively seek the views of Permodalan Nasional Berhad before formal terms and conditions of appointment are agreed and finalised with the identified successors.”
The fact there was a succession plan to prepare for Liew’s departure suggests to Tiger that much thought had been put into finding a good driver for the SP Setia car. From previous reports with much talk about maintaining continuity in Voon and Teow, the fair impression would be that Voon and Teow would be taking over the helm permanently.
So what is this temporary appointment and talk of finalising appointment terms with “identified successors”? Has the plan changed? If yes, why weren’t the investing public made aware of it?
All these uncertainties bring to mind the report last October about PNB mulling its own man to lead SP Setia post-Liew, although Zaki denied, to KiniBiz, any knowledge of such a plan by PNB.
Alas, Tiger can only continue stalking and let time tell all.
GRRRR!
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