PETALING JAYA: Sunway Bhd, the holding company of Sunway Group, is set to explore new avenues of growth in keeping with the changing business landscape, while expanding its portfolio of core businesses domestically and regionally.
Sunway Group founder and executive chairman Tan Sri Dr Jeffrey Cheah said while its current business is doing well, it is fully aware of the need to find new horizons in order to continue to thrive in the decades ahead.
"This will, of course, requires Sunway to transform itself into a digital-age corporation with new mind sets that will help us spot and seize opportunities that realise our ambitions.
"It is with this transition in mind that Datuk Seri Idris Jala has been appointed co-chairman of Sunway Bhd," he said after the group's extraordinary general meeting here today.
It was Idris Jala's first general meeting with shareholders following his appointment as co-chairman of Sunway on August 11.
"I am delighted to join Sunway Group as co-chairman of the board. Under the excellent leadership of Tan Sri Jeffrey Cheah, Sunway is a great company with proven track record of profitability and growth over the years.
"I consider this a real privilege to join the Board," said Idris Jala.
In June, Sunway was reclassified to the trading/services sector on Bursa Malaysia’s Main Market from properties sector to better reflect the group's long-term strategic ambitions and its diversified business interests.
Cheah said the reclassification signals Sunway Group's expansion plans. The group is now focusing on expanding in the healthcare sector to the tune of more than RM1.2 billion by building five new hospitals in the country.
It has set up Sunway Ventures as its corporate venture capital arm to seek out and identify new businesses that it can leverage to sustain its competitive edge as a corporation.
Sunway is also investing heavily in championing sustainable development in line with its core values and to help differentiate the corporation from its competitors including enhancing Sunway City's status as the model smart sustainable city in the region.
At the EGM, Sunway's shareholders approved all the resolutions in relation to the proposed bonus issue of shares and warrants.
The announcement came a day after Sunway reported a net profit of RM233.3 million, a jump of 29.7 per cent in the second quarter ended June 30, 2017.