Sweet For FELDA, Bitter for Rakyat, Fishy for Others

The moment Isa Samad was appointed as the Chairman of FELDA with effext from January 1st 2011, we could sense that FELDA will be used or rather abused, it is indeed one of the 'high end' cash cow for the politicians, and if you could recall,  FELDA became the 'new' sugar king in Malaysia following the RM1.5 billion acquisition in January 2010 of Kuok Brothers-controlled PPB Group Bhd's sugar assets, namely Malayan Sugar Manufacturing Co Bhd (now known as MSM Malaysia Holdings Bhd), a sugarcane farm in Perlis, a 50% stake in Kilang Gula Felda Perlis Sdn Bhd (KGFP) and a 20% share in Tradewinds (M) Bhd.

The latest unwrapping news is that FELDA intends to float its sugar business, or in a lay man's term public listing its sugar business. or to be more specific to list MSM, in which it has an 85% stake, around July. The remainder stake is owned by Koperasi Permodalan Felda Malaysia Bhd. The initial public offering, to be managed by CIMB Investment Bank Bhd (mmmhh....sounds fishy?), values the company at RM2.46bil (wow...berniaga gula lagi baik dari berniaga unta) or RM3.50 a share.

MSM houses the sugar plantation and refining operations of Felda. MSM produces close to 60 % of the refined sugar production in Malaysia and is valued at approx MYR 2.3 billion, For 2010 MSM made a profit of RM 232 million.After making these gigantic profits, one would expect FELDA to cushion any adverse cost impact, but NO, the government thinks otherwise, they believe (dont you think so?) FELDA needs more protection and nurturing compared to the rakyat, sigh! ...........ciao..........a.h.baharom