Mah Sing gets new chief executive officer

KUALA LUMPUR: Mah Sing Group Bhd has appointed Ng Chai Yong as its chief executive officer (CEO) and executive director effective yesterday. He will preside over the organisation’s day-to-day operations. In a statement, Mah Sing said Ng, 53, has close to 30 years of experience in civil engineering, banking and property.

With a stint in S P Setia Bhd, Ng has experience in handling large property developments in both the central and southern regions of Malaysia. He was also formerly the director and general manager of Bukit Indah Johor Sdn Bhd, as well as having been the CEO of Setia Eco-Park Sdn Bhd.

“Upon leaving S P Setia, Ng subsequently joined FCW Holdings Bhd as an executive director of one of its subsidiaries, FCW Property Management Sdn Bhd,” Mah Sing said.

It noted that Ng first started off with Citibank NA in Kuala Lumpur, before joining Keppel Bank in Singapore.

An analyst told The Edge Financial Daily yesterday that prior to the announcement, it was expected that Datuk Steven Ng Poh Seng, the executive director of Mah Sing, would step up as the firm’s new CEO.

“But I think he is too occupied with work such as road shows, communicating with analysts and fund managers, which involves a lot of travelling,” said the analyst, who declined to be named.

Poh Seng, 48, was appointed to the board on June 27, 2005, and has more than 24 years’ experience in audit, accounts, corporate finance and financial investment.  After eight years in S P Setia, he left as head of corporate affairs before joining Mah Sing, according to the company’s latest annual report. Presently, Poh Seng is heading the group’s corporate and investment division.

The analyst opined that Mah Sing has grown to such a size that it now needs to hire more top corporate figures to take the wheel, which is “definitely a good thing for the company”.

A Mah Sing spokesman told The Edge Financial Daily that the new CEO will provide an additional layer between the group managing director Tan Sri Leong Hoy Kum, and its chief operating officers of other projects. “The appointment will free [Leong] to do more strategic operational works at the group level,” she said, adding that the group had been hiring many people, “just that there’s no announcement because they are not at the principal management level”. Mah Sing appointed Quek Ting Chin as its chief financial officer from June 23.

Its share price rose 14.85% to RM2.32 on April 23, from RM2.02 on Jan 28.  It closed unchanged at RM2.28 yesterday, translating to a market capitalisation of RM3.27 billion.

This article first appeared in The Edge Financial Daily, on July 2, 2014.