RM1.7 billion debt hangs over Felda's bleeding investment arm

The firm is also saddled with lawsuits and unattractive assets.

You’re reading a subscriber-only edition of The Malaysianist, a newsletter reporting on the intersection of business and politics by journalist Emmanuel Samarathisa. I publish every Wednesday and Saturday, and every other newsy day, 8AM MYT.

Today’s newsletter contains three stories:

• The mess at Felda Investment Corp

• The 1MDB pocket money we’ll never enjoy

• Change is afoot in Penang but how much of the “old” should the state give up?

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Early this month, Plantations and Commodities Minister Johari Abdul Ghani told an audience that state-owned planter Felda should return to its core business of increasing palm oil production yield instead of venturing into businesses outside its area of expertise. 

His call for a return to the oil palm business comes at a time when the plantation giant’s investment arm – Felda Investment Corp Sdn Bhd (FIC) – has been struggling to turn around its fortunes. Today it has booked losses, racked up debt and has failed to deliver dividends to parent Felda. 

To make matters worse, FIC has debt amounting to RM1.76 billion hanging over its neck and many of its assets are deemed unattractive, to the point that a famous Malay tycoon who was rumoured to make a bid for one of the investment firm’s property companies has yet to do so.