Kuala Lumpur, June 10 - Malaysia's Sime Darby, the world's largest listed palm oil planter, has dismissed two senior personnel, including its chief financial officer, over trading losses, the company said on Tuesday.
Razidan Ghazalli, group CFO and Muhammad Mohan Kittu Abdullah, its vice president for the downstream and biofuel division, were sacked with immediate effect, Sime Darby said in a statement.
The company said it made the decision after an inquiry into 120 million ringgit ($36.78 million) of futures trading losses at Golden Jomalina Food Industries, which was then a subsidiary of Golden Hope Plantations.
The losses were discovered in August 2007, several months before the group was created via a merger with Malaysian oil palm firms Guthrie Plantations and Golden Hope, it said.
"The decision to terminate the services of the two staff members was taken by the board of directors after an extensive process of investigation and deliberation," a spokesman said.
"While it is never a pleasant task to dismiss any personnel, the board felt that the move was necessary in the interest of accountability and to protect stakeholders of Sime Darby."
Razidan was Golden Hope's finance director while Muhammad was general manager of Jomalina when the losses occurred.
Sime said appropriate provisions have been made and the group did not expect any impact on its future profitability. ($1=3.263 Malaysian Ringgit)