KUALA LUMPUR – Special purpose vehicle Urusharta Jamaah Sdn Bhd (UJSB) has declared a net loss of RM9.95 billion, owing to operational losses and a meagre RM234 million income for its 2019 financial year, Dewan Rakyat was told today.
UJSB is a wholly-owned unit of the Finance Ministry that took over Lembaga Tabung Haji’s (TH) non-performing assets valued at RM9.63 billion held by Lembaga Tabung Haji in late 2018.
The property assets transferred to UJSB include 0.63ha of land at Tun Razak Exchange (TRX).
Deputy Finance Minister II Mohd Shahar Abdullah (Paya Besar-Barisan Nasional) said UJSB, for the financial year, from December 14, 2018 to December 31, 2019, garnered an income of RM234 million.
He added that the government will inject a net fund of RM17.8 billion to Tabung Haji (TH) through Urusharta Jamaah Sdn Bhd (UJSB) on a regular basis for 10 years to ensure the agency recovers and continues to function.
For this year, he said UJSB will pay RM500 million to Tabung Haji, of which RM300 million is cash settlement and the rest is the initial redemption of sukuk.
Shahar was responding to questions from Datuk Seri Azeez Rahim (Baling-BN).
Earlier, Azeez questioned UJSB’s ability to pay off a debt of RM27.56 billion according to the time allotted to Tabung Haji.
Azeez also called for the intervention of the prime minister and finance minister so Tabung Haji cancelled its intention to sell plantation land owned by TH Plantations Bhd (THP) in Sarawak.
Azeez said, the land with 76% owned by Tabung Haji is seen as very strategic with several mega projects such as the Pan Borneo Highway, apart from the oil palm plantations can provide lucrative profits due to the rising world palm oil prices.
Shahar in his reply assured that the matter will be brought to the attention of Finance Minister Tengku Datuk Seri Zafrul Abdul Aziz.
“I will convey to the finance minister the grievances expressed regarding the sale of this plantation,” he added.
In December 2019, THP announced the disposal of its entire equity interest in Bumi Suria Ventures Sdn Bhd (BSV) and Maju Warisanmas Sdn Bhd (MW) to Tamaco Plantation Sdn Bhd for RM170 million.
Following the completion of the sale, the plantation company is expected to reduce its debt ratio from 1.09 times to 0.94 times and save on loan costs of RM9.41 million per annum.
In November 2019, it was reported that the government would bear a RM10.3 billion premium to ensure the financial health of Lembaga Tabung Haji was restored.
UJSB was reported as saying that in the event the value of the assets depreciated further, the losses shouldered by the government would be higher than RM10.3 billion. – The Vibes, November 25, 2020
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