Newly-appointed Felda chairperson Shahrir Samad said the agency will liquidate a hotel it owns in London to generate more cash.

He added that the present hospitality asset did not give large returns and did not have any sentimental value for the people in this country.

"(We) have other assets in the United Kingdom. It (the hotel) is not an asset that we feel sentimental about, if it involves hotels that give job opportunities to Felda settlers, that can improve local economies in the country, those we will preserve and hope they prosper, we will not easily let go.

"Not many Malaysians work at the London hotel," he said at a press conference at Menara Felda today.

He said that all Felda overseas assets will be re-evaluated and liquidated if it cannot generate favorable income, so as not to be an added financial burden to the federal agency.

"As of now, we have decided to sell off the London hotel as its value has rapidly depreciated," said Shahrir.

He explained that the sale of the hotel is expected to rake in between RM500 million to RM1 billion.

Shahrir was responding to queries on what was next for Felda, after its decision to let go of its stake in Maybank Banking Berhad, to the tune of RM280 million.

Yesterday, The Wall Street Journal reported that Felda has sold off some its shares in Maybank.

Felda offered its Maybank shares for sale at around RM8 per share, as it let go of its 185,150,000 shares in the bank, which at 1.82 percent makes it the fourth largest holding in the financial institution.

Shahrir added that the proceeds from the sale of assets will be used to assist settlers as well as for agency management.

"We have other expenses to maintain. Felda earnings is not totally from settlers as we don't own their farms," he related.

The Felda chairperson explained that settlers will get a hundred percent of the earnings from their farms, though they will have to contribute to community development and operations expenses, as they are all part of development schemes managed by Felda.

"There may be added expenses for management purposes, which is for the settler's benefit," he said.