MAHB's Syed Zainol takes over as S P Setia chairman as Wan Mohd Zahid quits

KUALA LUMPUR (Jan 3): After serving S P Setia Bhd for almost a decade, Tan Sri Dr Wan Mohd Zahid Mohd Noordin has resigned from his post as non-independent and non-executive chairman of the group to pursue other interests. The resignation, the group announced, took effect today.

He has been succeeded by Tan Sri Syed Zainol Anwar Ibni Syed Putra Jamalullail, whose appointment to the post took effect on the same day. Syed Zainol is also currently the chairman of Nestle (Malaysia) Bhd, Malaysia Airports Holdings Bhd, and Lembaga Zakat Selangor, besides being the chancellor of SEGi University.

In a statement, S P Setia said Wan Mohd Zahid was first appointed as director of the group on June 18, 2009, before being redesignated as its chairman on Feb 25, 2016.

He is also chairman of S P Setia Foundation, a post he will continue to hold despite having relinquished his chairmanship with S P Setia.

“The board would like to take this opportunity to express its sincere gratitude to Tan Sri Wan Zahid for his stewardship, invaluable contribution to the company and in leading the organisation to rise to new heights especially during the past few challenging years,” the group said.

Meanwhile, according to the group's stock exchange filing, Syed Zainol, 66, is a chartered accountant who started his career with Malaysian Airlines Systems Bhd as a financial accountant in 1975.

He was also previously chairman of many public-listed companies, such as Cahya Mata Sarawak Bhd, Media Prima Bhd, Malaysian Resources Corporation Bhd, DRB-Hicom Bhd, Malakoff Corp Bhd and EON Bank Bhd. In addition, he was once an independent director of Maxis Communications Bhd and Bangkok Bank Bhd.

Shares of S P Setia rose one sen or 0.45% to close at RM2.24 today, giving it a market capitalisation of RM8.87 billion. The group saw 2.07 million shares traded. — theedgemarkets.com

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