“We are looking for a big brand that is strong in property development to spearhead the next phase of growth in I-City,” he told StarBiz yesterday, adding that he was interested in the development concept of Shenzhen.
So far, he is targeting to meet the top three developers in Singapore, Hong Kong, China and Taiwan.
“Tan Sri Hamad Kama Piah (the president and group CEO of Permodalan Nasional Bhd – PNB) has done a good job as non-executive chairman, building up the infrastructure and network for the group,” said Lim. PNB has an 18.1% stake in I-Bhd.
Hamad, who was appointed non-executive chairman early last year, has resigned as non-executive chairman and director and is replaced by Lim, who was previously deputy executive chairman.
No reason was given for Hamad’s resignation but for Lim, the post of executive chairman is helpful when it comes to meeting big developers in the Far East as they are often interested to discuss with the top man himself.
In his statement last Friday, Lim said: “I-Bhd is pursuing a number of projects that would require a strong entrepreneurial input to deliver the value to shareholders.”
I-City has obtained the MSC Malaysia Cybercentre status from the then-Ministry of Science, Technology and Environment, and was endorsed as a tourism destination by the Tourism Ministry as well as given international park status by Selangor state government.
For the 12 months ended Dec 31, 2009, the group posted an after-tax profit of RM900,000 compared with RM15.3mil for the last financial year, mainly due to lower sales of completed units.
A final dividend of 3% comprising 1.77% less 25% income tax and 1.23% single-tier dividend was paid.
By the first quarter of this financial year, it had incurred an after tax loss of RM1.45mil compared with RM1.72mil in the last financial year.
“In two years, we will have to improve the dividend and expand the ICT as well as international park,’’ said Lim. Among the key components in I-City are the data centre park comprising four blocks of tier-4 data centres, the cybercentre office suite, the technopreneur centre and city of digital lights. There are now 100 MSC tenants in the ICT.
“We have to find out the concerns that foreign investors have and relay them to the state government,” said Lim, adding that assurances in black and white could be sought.
On the non re-election of Datuk Abu Hassan Kendut as director, and hence chairman of the audit committee, Lim said Abu Hassan did not seek re-election as a director.
“He did not give a reason but informed the company secretary, who then informed the board,” Lim said. “The board also noted that he had served for three years already. The independent directors on the audit committee are normally changed once every two to three years as part of good corporate governance.”
Apart from Abu Hassan, the other independent director who resigned from I-Bhd was Datuk Pengiran Mohd Hussein Mohd Tahir Nasruddin, who is now ambassador to Cambodia.
The board is looking to fill up these two positions in the audit committee which has only one member, independent director Monica Ong.
By The Star
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