By Sharen Kaur
sharen@nstp.com.my
Published in NST on April 10, 2012
sharen@nstp.com.my
Published in NST on April 10, 2012
KUALA LUMPUR: Keretapi Tanah Melayu Bhd (KTMB) president Dr Aminuddin Adnan is expected to leave the national rail company in August after only a year into his two-year contract, government sources said.
Aminuddin is widely expected to be replaced by Mohd Azharuddin Mat Sah, the vice-president of special projects at the managing director's office at Khazanah Nasional Bhd.
Speculation had been rife that Land Public Transport Commission chief operating officer Azahar Ahmad would be replacing Aminuddin.
"But Azharuddin is expected to come in and turn around KTMB," the sources said.
KTMB, which is involved in freight, inter-city and commuter train services, among others, has been bleeding red ink since it was corporatised in 1992 due to high operating costs, although it did make net profits of between RM9 million and RM15 million from 1993 to 1995.
In 2007, it posted a net loss of RM116.1 million on revenue of RM349.2 million. It is believed that for 2008, KTMB posted a loss of RM150 million.
KTMB is still suffering from high operating costs of RM200 million a year despite efforts to lower expenditure by reducing manpower and stopping non-profitable operations.
Aminuddin, who was previously the chief executive officer of Express Rail Link (ERL) Sdn Bhd, was surprised when contacted.
"This is news to me. I have not received any official letter," he told Business Times.
Aminuddin was appointed as KTMB president in August 2009 on a two-year contract. His contract was extended by another two years in August last year.
During his stint at KTMB, he faced several problems with the Railwaymen's Union of Malaya (RUM) due to non-performance of the company.
This led to several companies, including MMC Corp Bhd, proposing to take over and privatise KTMB.
RUM is against MMC or any other party taking over KTMB.
In December last year, Business Times reported that MMC planned to pump in as much as RM1 billion to take control of KTMB's operations.
Aminuddin said in an interview last month MMC had started the process of taking over KTMB's operations, with KTMB being asked to assist in due diligence matters.
It is learnt that MMC had appointed up to 30 local and foreign consultants last month to commence due diligence on KTMB, which is expected to be completed by June.
Aminuddin is widely expected to be replaced by Mohd Azharuddin Mat Sah, the vice-president of special projects at the managing director's office at Khazanah Nasional Bhd.
Speculation had been rife that Land Public Transport Commission chief operating officer Azahar Ahmad would be replacing Aminuddin.
"But Azharuddin is expected to come in and turn around KTMB," the sources said.
KTMB, which is involved in freight, inter-city and commuter train services, among others, has been bleeding red ink since it was corporatised in 1992 due to high operating costs, although it did make net profits of between RM9 million and RM15 million from 1993 to 1995.
In 2007, it posted a net loss of RM116.1 million on revenue of RM349.2 million. It is believed that for 2008, KTMB posted a loss of RM150 million.
KTMB is still suffering from high operating costs of RM200 million a year despite efforts to lower expenditure by reducing manpower and stopping non-profitable operations.
Aminuddin, who was previously the chief executive officer of Express Rail Link (ERL) Sdn Bhd, was surprised when contacted.
"This is news to me. I have not received any official letter," he told Business Times.
Aminuddin was appointed as KTMB president in August 2009 on a two-year contract. His contract was extended by another two years in August last year.
During his stint at KTMB, he faced several problems with the Railwaymen's Union of Malaya (RUM) due to non-performance of the company.
This led to several companies, including MMC Corp Bhd, proposing to take over and privatise KTMB.
RUM is against MMC or any other party taking over KTMB.
In December last year, Business Times reported that MMC planned to pump in as much as RM1 billion to take control of KTMB's operations.
Aminuddin said in an interview last month MMC had started the process of taking over KTMB's operations, with KTMB being asked to assist in due diligence matters.
It is learnt that MMC had appointed up to 30 local and foreign consultants last month to commence due diligence on KTMB, which is expected to be completed by June.
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