KUALA LUMPUR – Felcra Bhd has clarified that the remaining loan arrears of its participants, amounting to RM312.22 million as of December 31, 2021, has been converted from government loan to equity.
Chief executive officer Datuk Mat Roni Zakaria said the move was approved by Dewan Rakyat on August 4, 2022.
“This enabled Felcra to strengthen its financial position for the long term, while simultaneously fulfilling its social responsibilities to the participants in a greater and more effective way,” he said in a statement today.
The statement was issued following the Auditor-General’s Report 2021 Series 2 released on Thursday, which stated that Felcra Bhd’s debt arrears amounted to RM312.22 million as of December 31, 2021, up from RM82 million in the preceding year.
Roni said the conversion of the debt showed that the government is concerned about the land development debt burden faced by Felcra.
He noted that as a corporate entity that is fully owned by the government via the Finance Ministry (Inc), Felcra has a great responsibility to ensure that the two main thrusts of the company's operations are executed, namely commercial business operations and its social mandate for the people, especially Felcra participants.
Roni said that even though Felcra’s financial performance has been less than encouraging in terms of debt arrears and its ability to pay dividends to the government, the management of participant financial accounts (consolidation and rehabilitation projects) remains its main agenda.
He added that the company’s dividend payout stood at RM163 million in 2020, RM478 million in 2021 and RM517 million in 2022. – Bernama, February 18, 2023
