Sapura Energy 'bailout' is 'perverse Najibnomics', says Rafizi

 

Former prime minister Najib Abdul Razak has been accused of prioritising the business elite in suggesting that the government bailout Sapura Energy Bhd.

In a statement, former Pandan MP Rafizi Ramli said such money was better used to bolster small enterprises, youths, study loans and other uses that benefit the wider public.

"I will present more figures in the coming days to remind the public that they must never again be fooled by Najib's idea of managing the economy," said Rafizi (above), while adding that the idea was "songsang" (perverse).

A subsidiary of conglomerate Sapura Group, Sapura Energy has been making losses since 2019. For the financial year ending Jan 31, 2022, Sapura Energy posted a loss of RM8.9 billion.

Three of Sapura Energy's subsidiaries have been served with winding-up petitions earlier this month.

At the time of writing, Sapura Energy's shares were trading at 3.5 sen, down from a peak of RM4.98 in 2013.

Loss for PNB

Yesterday, Najib argued that allowing Sapura Energy to go bankrupt would translate to a loss of RM4 billion for Permodalan Nasional Bhd (PNB) - a government-controlled trust fund.

In September 2018, PNB increased its stake in Sapura Energy to 40 percent, up from 12.16 percent. At the time, the PNB Group chairperson was Zeti Akhtar Aziz while the CEO was Abdul Rahman Ahmad.

If Sapura Energy were to go under, said Najib, then it would be forced to conduct a fire-sale of its assets, which are mostly related to oil and gas and this will entice foreign investors.

According to Najib, a former finance minister, local banks also have a RM10 billion exposure to Sapura Energy.

In view of this, Najib said the government should step in by providing Sapura Energy with soft loans or order Petronas to acquire Sapura Energy.

Rafizi said while he sympathised with the staff at Sapura Energy, it is unfair to use billions in public funds to save a few corporate figures.

He said billions had already been pumped into Sapura Energy that was still making losses despite high global fuel prices. - Mkini