KUALA LUMPUR (Oct 2): Lembaga Tabung Angkatan Tentera (LTAT) chief executive Nik Amlizan Mohamed has left the company, according to sources, raising questions whether the armed forces pension fund will proceed to take its 59.44%-owned investment arm Boustead Holdings Bhd private.
Nik Amlizan took the helm at LTAT in September 2018, replacing Tan Sri Lodin Wok Kamaruddin. Prior to joining LTAT, she was the chief investment officer of Kumpulan Wang Persaraan (Diperbadankan) (KWAP), and served the organisation for 11 years.
The reason for Nik Amlizan’s departure from LTAT is not known. She has also been a non-executive director of Boustead since November 2018.
In May, LTAT revealed that it is considering a proposal to privatise Boustead. It intends to acquire the shares in the diversified conglomerate that it does not already own at 80 sen apiece, which would see the armed forces pension fund forking out around RM660 million.
Boustead currently has three listed companies under its stable – Boustead Heavy Industries Corp Bhd (BHIC), Pharmaniaga Bhd and Boustead Plantations Bhd, owning 65%, 56.09% and 57.42% respectively. It also holds a 20.76% stake in Affin Bank Bhd.
The privatisation would help LTAT to restructure its businesses outside the scrutiny of public shareholders and regulators. The fund has recently embarked on its overall transformation journey under its 5-year strategic plan beginning 2019, while Boustead is undergoing its own turnaround programme.
Last year, LTAT’s performance was impacted primarily as a result of zero dividend received from Boustead and Affin Bank, compared with RM124.2 million in dividends received in FY2018. The fund was only able to announce better dividends in FY2019 of 2.5% compared with FY2018’s 2% as a result of a waiver from paying dividends on the government’s contribution to the fund for FY2019.
As at 4.23pm today, Boustead shares were down one sen or 1.53% at 64.5 sen, bringing it a market capitalisation of RM1.29 billion. A total of 1.84 million shares were traded.