KLUANG, Jan 17 (Bernama) -- All the 10 plantation subsidiaries of TabungHaji will be merged under TH Plantations Sdn Bhd to enable them to operatemore efficiency and at lower costs, said Minister in the Prime Minister'sDepartment Brig Gen (rtd) Datuk Seri Abdul Hamid Zainal Abidin Saturday.

"I believe the merger will increase efficiency and reduce operationalcosts. This will also indirectly boost profits," he said after ameet-the-people session at Tabung Haji-owned Bukit Lawiang Plantationhere.

He said the merger was expected to be completed soon.

Abdul Hamid said Tabung Haji's plantation subsidiaries had a total of136,208 hectares of plantation land in Peninsular Malaysia, Sabah andSarawak, as well as 82,148 hectares of oil palm plantation in Riau Islandsin Indonesia.

Last year, he said Tabung Haji plantations in Malaysia produced 508,607tonnes of fresh fruit bunch (FFB) while its plantations in Indonesiaproduced 376,291 tonnes of FFB.

With the agriculture land getting scarce in the country, he said TabungHaji would look overseas to set up its plantations.

Last year, he said Tabung Haji plantation subsidiaries recorded a pre-taxprofit of RM85 million.

TH Plantations Chairman Lt Gen (rtd) Datuk Abdul Aziz Hassan meanwhilesaid the merger would prepare the company to face the challenges ofglobalisation.

"This rationalisation process will place the management of plantationsunder one so as to be more efficient and effective," he said.

TH Plantations has seven oil palm plantations, covering 12,626 hectares inKluang, Keratong, Kemaman. Last year, it produced 246,867 tonnes of FFB.

In the 2003 financial year, he said TH Plantations recorded a pre-taxprofit of RM48.4 million as against RM32.58 million the previous year.

"TH Plantations hopes to perform better this year, given the stable CPO(Crude Palm Oil) price at RM1,500 per tonne," he said.

Abdul Aziz said that given the favourable performance last year, THPlantations was expected to pay out a RM50 million dividend to TabungHaji.

-- BERNAMA