Khamil strongly tipped to head Proton

EXECUTIVE CHAIRMAN’S POST: DRB-HICOM managing director tops list of three names put forward, says source



DATUK Mohd Khamil Jamil is strongly tipped to take charge of national carmaker Proton Holdings Bhd, people familiar with the matter said yesterday.

Business Times was told that Mohd Khamil’s name was among the three names put forward for the post of executive chairman.

Earlier, there were reports that Tengku Tan Sri Mahaleel Tengku
Ariff would make a comeback to the company that he once led.

Tengku Mahaleel, a former chief executive officer (CEO) at Proton, left the company in September 2005 under controversial circumstances.



The official statement then said that his contract was not renewed by the board of directors led by chairman Datuk Mohammed Azlan Hashim However, it is understood that Mohd Khamil’s name is on top of the list, as the DRB-HICOM board and stakeholders feel they need their very best man to restructure Proton.

Mohd Khamil, the managing director of DRBHICOM, is seen by the stakeholders as the right man to turn around the loss-making Proton back to its glory days.

At its peak, Proton dominated the automobile market in Malaysia, but lately the company hasfallen amid hard times.

Proton suffered heavier bleeding in the third quarter ended December 31 2011, suffering a loss of RM88.2 million compared with a loss of RM60.1 million in the same period the previous year.

Proton shares closed unchanged at RM5.41 a piece yesterday. Year to date, the stock is up by 20.44 per cent, as opposed to the 4.7 per cent rise in the Bursa Malaysia benchmark index.

The rise in Proton shares, however, has much to do with DRBHICOM’s RM5.50 a piece offer to take the national carmaker
private.

As such, the DRB-HICOM board is banking on Mohd Khamil using his experience in mending conglomerates back to health, having turned around DRB-HICOM.

Over the past five years, Mohd Khamil has managed to bring up
DRB-HICOM’s revenue base to RM6.8 billion from RM2.9 billion
in 2007, while group pre-tax profit had tripled to RM701.5 million from RM187.1 million five years ago.

“The job is good as his, if he accepts it, but it will be his greatest challenge to turn around Proton,” said a source.

Mohd Khamil, who has a reputation for being a stern task master, declined to comment on the matter.

“I’m just doing my job, and I’ll keep doing my job,” he told Business Times.