Thursday, September 15, 2011

Is Felda really financially strong?

According to PM Najib, "Felda is financially strong and has about RM8bil in shares and funds, said Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak.

Najib, who sat in on Felda's management meeting yesterday, said he was pleased with the performance of the company.

“Its finances are getting stronger. Its performance is encouraging and almost all its activities have brought in profits.

“The value of its shares and Amanah Raya funds is about RM8bil in total,” he said at the Felda Hari Raya do here."

More in The Star:
Felda is financially strong
http://thestar.com.my/news/story.asp?file=/2011/9/14/nation/9496336&sec=nation

Not so long ago, there was news that Felda is going to borrow Rm6 billion from EPF! So, if Felda is truly financially strong, is there a need to borrow such huge sums? Managing own funds and try to earn a decent return on them and managing new businesses using borrowed funds are too different matters. The former is based on solid backing and in the case of Felda, land would form a big portion of assets which is likely to appreciate. So where all things failed, they can always fall back on selling the land to opt out or to recover from losses. But the latter would incur fixed rate of interest (depending on their agreement with EPF) and losses from investments using those funds are likely to snowball with unpaid interest. And they are into businesses new to management. To be honest, I am wary of initiatives by present political leaders because inevitably some cronies or nominees are in for the money and we are talking about billions of ringgit! Just a small percentage of commission on any deal resulting therefrom would make anyone rich.
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