Ugly Donation?

After I wrote about donating made easy with CIMB Cares, one particular company seems like responding to donation today. However, it did not boil down well at all. Why?

On 17th June, Tradewinds Plantation Bhd (TPB) held its annual general meeting. Among the topics discussed was its RM 10 million donation to Tan Sri Syed Mokhtar-owned Albukhary International University. The board of directors and management said the company donated the sum because it “had made a lot of profit in the previous financial years”. (The Edge Malaysia)



Shareholders of the company is questioning of this donation for a few reasons:
1. Donation consisted of 12% of FY2009 net profit of RM 51.5 million.
2. The University is controlled by its major shareholder and tycoon Syed Mokhtar.
3. Independent directors are silent.

If you are one the shareholder, what would be your reaction?

Company making profit should reward its shareholder, etc giving higher dividend, instead of donating a large sum of money to a university owned by its major shareholder. And sadly to say, dividends of this company have been stagnant for several years now. For me, I will be very frustrated and dump all my holdings and invest in a rival company.

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