Feuding parties at Seloga ready to slug it out

26 January 2011 , By The Star

As the date of its upcoming EGM draws nearer (Monday, Jan 31), the two feuding parties at Seloga Holdings Bhd are collecting all the evidence they can lay their hands on, to justify to the shareholders why the four directors should or should not be removed.

To support their case, it is likely that one party may raise the controversial RM15mil debt write-off owing by Metro Ikram Sdn Bhd to Seloga and the other party is likely to raise the issue of lagging financial performance to justify their case, besides other issues.

The party that wants the four directors out comprises Tan Sri Halim Saad and Zulkefli Zaidi.

Halim indirectly owns nearly 32.5% of Seloga via Usaha Citra Sdn Bhd and Lucky Lamp International Ltd.

The four directors concerned are Datuk Samsudin Abu Hassan (previously dubbed the man with the Midas touch), Datuk Lim Git Hooi (chairman), Datuk Syed Md Amin Syed Aljeffri and Derek John Fernandez.

“The fight could get ugly but the likelihood of the four being voted out is there. However, the four want to present their case at the EGM. They feel the shareholders should know about the issues surrounding their company,” said a source who requested anonymity.

He added that Samsudin’s removal was unjust as he had been instrumental in turning the company around but to remove the three directors along with him with no reasons given was also unjustifiable.

“It would be sad that I cannot complete the restructuring but certainly, I do not have any intention of overstaying my position in the company, which expires in May this year. What I have been doing thus far is to put Seloga in good stead and the bottomline will speak for itself. I believe all shareholders will benefit in due course,” Samsudin said in a text message yesterday.

Seloga is a property developer and its current main project is a commercial and housing development in Taman Nusantara, which is within Iskandar Malaysia in Johor. The project, which covers about 120ha, has been evaluated for a gross development value of about RM600mil.

The two feuding parties are essentially Halim and Samsudin, who, at one time, were good friends. It was Halim who asked Samsudin to join Seloga in June 2008 to turn the company around. Lim and Syed Amin have been with the company since 2003 while Fernandez joined Seloga in 2001. The controversy surrounding Seloga stems from the differences in the way the company is managed and views regarding its financial performance.

Samsudin’s stand is that he had made changes which he said was evident from the financial performance over the years.

Those in the know claimed that “profits are good but it should come from the operations and not just from mere asset sale.”

While both parties may have their own stories to tell, “at the end of the day, the votes count and it is up to shareholders to exercise their voting rights. They will decide who stays and who goes,” another source said.

And whether the removal of the four directors would derail the re-listing plans remained to be seen, said the source.

Seloga’s shares were suspended from trading on Bursa Malaysia when it became a PN17 company on Nov 9, 2007. It’s last traded price was 17 sen. The restructuring of the company is under way and should be completed by March 31 so that its shares can be relisted on Bursa.

For the cumulative nine months ended Sept 30, Seloga reported a net profit of RM7.5mil on revenue of RM32.8mil. For the full year of 2009, the company reported a net profit of RM13.5mil and revenue of RM61.5mil. A year earlier, it recorded a net loss of RM3.5mil and revenue of RM47.8mil.