FORMER Utusan Malaysia staff can expect to receive one month’s salary owed to them from liquidators tasked with selling off the assets of the shuttered Malay daily.

The payment, scheduled to be paid in March, will come from debtors of Utusan Melayu (Malaysia) Bhd, said an official from UHY Liquidators.

UHY Advisory (KL) was appointed as liquidators tasked with selling off the company’s assets to pay staff and bank debts.  

The payment of one month’s salary is the first liquidators are able to make from the company’s total assets, which are valued at RM200 million, said the official, who requested anonymity.

The official, however, cautioned that asset sales, which include properties in the heart of Kuala Lumpur, are still slow due to the sluggish overall property market.

For the first quarter of this year, liquidators are aiming to sell 25% of the company’s assets.

The assets include 31 property units, including its KL headquarters in Jalan Utusan, a two-block printing plant at Jalan Chow Sow Lin and other offices.

It has printing plants in Seberang Jaya, Penang and Kuala Terengganu as well as commercial lots in the southern part of the peninsula.

Six vehicles and several printing machines are also up for sale.

“Since the end of January, we’ve already advertised Utusan’s assets via several local newspapers, such as the The Edge, Berita Harian, The Star and Chinese papers,” said the official.

“To date, about 10 parties have come forward to express interest. It’s still slow because people are still in the Chinese New Year mood.

“The property market is still bad and investor confidence is low. We can’t just simply sell according to whatever price we set. We have to sell according to market price,” the official told The Malaysian Insight.

“Maybe after the second quarter of this year we’ll be able to sell more assets and pay more to the workers.”

Among the assets which have been sold are two buildings in Kuala Lumpur and Johor Baru and the proceeds were used to pay off Utusan’s debts.

“We’ve also collected money from parties who owe Utusan. That is the cash that we are going to use to pay the one month’s salary.”

The newspaper, which was a staunch supporter of Umno and the former Barisan Nasional ruling coalition, ran into financial dire straits after the May 2018 general election.  

It shut down operations three months ago and about 800 staff members lost their jobs.

Some 800 staff members took up a voluntary separation scheme (VSS) in 2018 but their payments were also delayed. – February 6, 2020.