New KTMB chief sets 5-year plan to turn company around

By Sharen Kaur
Published in NST on March 27, 2014

KUALA LUMPUR: The new chairman of Keretapi Tanah Melayu Bhd (KTMB), Datuk Nawawi Ahmad, has set a five-year business plan for the company to become profitable.

The plan includes getting more locomotives and fixing the ailing infrastructure, said Railwaymen's Union of Malaya president Abdul Razak Md Hassan Razak.

He said Nawawi will launch a brand-building exercise to build public confidence and implement new marketing strategies and promotional activities to boost both cargo and passenger revenues.

For fiscal year 2013, KTMB achieved a revenue of RM380 million while expenditure was around RM700 million.

KTMB, which is involved in freight, intercity and commuter train services, and property and advertisement, has been bleeding red ink since it was corporatised in 1992 due to high operating costs.

The company did make net profits of between RM9 million and RM15 million from 1993 to 1995.

Abdul Razak said Nawawi's direction for KTMB will supercede the business plan launched by its president Datuk Elias Kadir last year.

"Nawawi sees the potential in cargo and he will find ways to increase revenue from RM130 million currently to more than RM500 million. This can be achieved if there are enough rolling stocks and proper infrastructure ," he said.