Mohamed Rastam Shahrom

KUALA LUMPUR (MAY 14): Malaysia Airports Holdings Bhd (KL:AIRPORT), or MAHB, is ready to have Mohamed Rastam Shahrom at the helm of the airport operator permanently after seven months as acting group chief executive officer, according to sources.

Sources told The Edge that MAHB will soon announce Mohamed as the next group CEO.

"A company cannot be without a CEO for too long," said one of the sources.

Mohamed was appointed as MAHB's acting group CEO on Oct 25 last year, after Datuk Seri Iskandar Mizal Mahmood stepped down from his role as managing director at the end of his two-year contract a day prior. Mohamed continued to serve as group chief financial officer (CFO) of MAHB.

The upcoming appointment comes on the heels of the recent announcement of a new chairman. MAHB on Monday named former Malaysian Aviation Commission executive chairman Dr Nungsari Ahmad Radhi as its non-executive chairman. He replaced Tan Sri Zainun Ali, who will remain with the group as non-independent non-executive director. Zainun was reappointed as chairman in February 2023.

Mohamed's name was touted among a group of potential CEOs bandied about to take the top job at MAHB in February. They included the airport operator’s former CEO Datuk Mohd Shukrie Mohd Salleh and its CFO from 2006 to 2015, Faizal Sham Abu Mansor.

Mohamed's candidacy is said to have become much more certain within the last few weeks, according to the sources.

The CEO role at MAHB is a unique blend of running a public company, but it also has a political element, which makes it a tough role to fill. MAHB’s 2023 annual report shows that as at March 29, 2024, its largest shareholder was sovereign wealth fund Khazanah Nasional Bhd, with a 32.17% stake, followed by the Employees Provident Fund (EPF) with 6.83% equity interest and Retirement Fund Inc (KWAP) with 6.87%.

In April, The Edge reported about a potential privatisation bid by a couple of substantial shareholders of MAHB. It was said that both Khazanah and EPF will play key roles in the privatisation, which may also involve some form of equity participation on the part of infrastructure investor Global Infrastructure Partners.

MAHB was also reportedly looking at monetising its Turkish airport operations by divesting part of its 100% equity interest in Istanbul Sabiha Gökçen Uluslararasi Havalimani Yatirim Yapim ve sletme AS (ISG) to Turkish firm IC brahim Çeçen Yatrm Holding. ISG operates Istanbul Sabiha Gökçen International Airport (ISGA) — the second-largest airport in Türkiye. If a deal is struck, the two will jointly run the airport.

Mohamed joined MAHB in January 2020 as group CFO. He has more than 23 years of experience in the field of finance, investment appraisal, fund raising, financial analysis and planning, finance operations, international joint ventures and statutory reporting.

Before moving to MAHB, he previously served as CFO of UEM Sunrise Bhd (KL:UEMS). His earlier years were spent in external audit firm Arthur Andersen, where he gained exposure to a variety of industries, ranging from financial institutions, insurance and government-linked companies.

MAHB’s share price had risen 39% so far this year to close at RM10.44 on Monday, giving it a market capitalisation of RM17.4 billion.