KUALA LUMPUR (June 25): FGV Holdings Bhd says major shareholders Federal Land Development Authority (Felda), Koperasi Permodalan Felda Malaysia Bhd and the Armed Forces Fund Board have voted against several resolutions on FGV directors' remuneration at the group's annual general meeting (AGM) here today.

The Armed Forces Fund Board is also known as Lembaga Tabung Angkatan Tentera (LTAT).

During a press conference following the five-hour-long AGM, FGV chairman Datuk Wira Azhar Abdul Hamid said the plantation group's board of directors had called for a meeting right after the AGM to discuss the options to be taken given the current situation.

"This has put us in a bit of a bind. The ironic thing is that we did not have any problems with the re-election of directors, as all those resolutions were approved.

"It's as though the shareholders still want us to be directors but do not intend to pay us," Azhar said.

Azhar said another FGV major shareholder, the Employees Provident Fund, had also raised remuneration-related concerns in a letter, especially regarding the amount for the chairman.

According to him, the EPF, however, did not vote against the resolutions.

Azhar said FGV's board is still deliberating on the matter and that the issue will likely not be resolved any time soon. A decision on the matter will be made eventually, he said.

"We need to make sure that whatever the board does going forward will be understood and appreciated by the shareholders. The directors have worked hard in putting in plans and strategies to improve the profitability of the company but there is a sense that what we have been doing over the past one-and-a-half years is not appreciated. There is a sense [among the shareholders] that there are people that can do better.

"The current board is not in the company for the directors' fees. We came in with open eyes, knowing full well about what was going on in FGV. If you ask me to be a board member of a company that is doing well and is able to easily carry out its expansion strategies, then a reasonable amount [of remuneration] will do. But FGV is not an ordinary company," he said.