KUALA LUMPUR: The Employees’ Provident Fund (EPF) needs to explain its decision-making process to buy Malaysia Airports Bhd (MAHB) shares at RM11 each in 2024, a mere year after selling it for RM6 in 2023, said Datuk Seri Dr Wee Ka Siong.
“It is said the buying back of shares at RM11 was for privatisation purposes.
“Who was responsible for this decision which incurred losses of between RM539mil and RM694mil?
“If EPF had not sold off its shares at RM6 in 2023 and reduced its holdings (in MAHB), then, they would not have needed to fork out and buy it back,” said the MCA president in a four-minute long video that was posted on his Facebook page on Sunday (Feb 16).
Sharing a chart and explaining his reasoning behind the sum, Dr Wee said it took 24 years for the MAHB shares to go up in value from RM2.50 to RM6 but then in 2024 it went from RM6 to RM11.
“In 1999, EPF purchased MAHB shares at RM2.50 per share and after 24 years, in 2023, the shares were sold at RM6 per share.
“However, by the end of 2024, EPF bought back the same shares at RM11 per share.
“This is said to involve the application of surplus funds from EPF and that is the main problem that I highlighted which I want answered by them (EPF),” he said.
Dr Wee then questioned how it was possible to have not incurred losses.
“That is why I said that EPF must answer why and who lost this money.
“From RM6 to RM11 is a RM5 difference.
“It is 150 million shares that have been disposed and it is not a small amount,” he said.
He said EPF held 15.67% of MAHB shares in 2022 and by Dec 28, 2023, after selling the shares at lower prices, EPF’s stake dropped to just 5.787%.
“They sold 9.88% of their holdings,” he said.
Dr Wee further explained that in 2024, EPF had announced plans to buy back shares, increasing its stake to 30%, a prerequisite for MAHB’s privatisation.
“The repurchase was done at RM11 per share, a significantly higher price than the earlier sale.
“Who will bear the cost of this expensive repurchase? Isn’t this basic mathematics?” Dr Wee questioned.
Dr Wee during the video then made reference to Kampar MP Chong Zhemin’s comments dismissing claims of loss, stating that the repurchase at RM11 was strategic, anticipating future gains.
“If our discussion stopped at 2023 and there was no repurchase, then what was said by Kampar (Chong) might be true, but the problem is in 2023, a decision was made to sell the shares and then they had to buy it back because of the privatisation plans,” Dr Wee said.
Dr Wee had earlier questioned the logic behind Chong’s explanation that it is normal practice for EPF to sell and liquidate “profitable” assets to pay dividends to EPF contributors.
Previously, Chong challenged Dr Wee to prove EPF’s alleged RM500mil loss in the MAHB privatisation deal.
Chong vowed to retire if the loss could be demonstrated, arguing EPF profited by initially buying shares at RM2 and selling at RM5.
It was reported on Feb 13 that EPF refuted allegations of misconduct or regulatory breaches in the buying and selling of the MAHB shares and the purported losses incurred from the transaction.
“In adherence to EPF’s Chinese wall policy, there is a strict boundary between teams that have access to material non-public information and teams that deal in the public markets, ensuring that no privileged information crosses between them.
“The public markets team operates independently, making trading decisions solely based on publicly available information,” it said.
They (EPF) then welcomed any review and investigation regarding its investment in MAHB.