SIME Darby Bhd (4197), rocked by massive losses at its energy and utilities division last year, has named chairmen to head board of directors for its six main units to restore investor confidence- Sime Darby chairman Tun Musa Hitam said the chairman of each division will report to the main board of directors and they are responsible for charting out guidelines and future directions of their units- "We are delivering and implementing all the promises made," Musa told reporters at the company's headquarters in Kuala Lumpur yesterday after launching the group's centennial celebration- The chairmen are Musa for Sime Darby Plantations, Datuk Seri Lim Haw Kuang (Sime Darby Energy - non China and Sime Darby Utilities), Tan Sri Hamad Kama Piah Che Othman (property) and Tan Sri Samsudin Osman (industrial) while Tan Sri Dr Wan Mohd Zahid Mohd Noordin will head automotive and healthcare- Musa said Lim and Hamad Kama Piah assumed their new jobs last month- Lim is also executive chairman of Shell companies in China while Hamad Kama Piah is president and group chief executive of Permodalan Nasional Bhd which is Malaysia's biggest fund manager- Musa said Sime Darby's top priority now is the energy and utilities division and the division would have strict rules and procedures whenever it gets the chance to bid for new projects- Sime Darby's six divisions were grouped under one roof when it merged with Golden Hope Plantations Bhd and Kumpulan Guthrie Bhd in 2007- Datuk Mohd Bakke Salleh who took over from former president and group chief executive Datuk Seri Ahmad Zubir Murshid in July last year, announced the reorganisation to enable the group to get a better grasp of the six businesses as part of its turnaround plan- The energy and utilities division made a cost overrun of RM1-7 billion, prompting the group to made a RM2-1 billion provision- ...
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