GEORGE TOWN: Taiyo Group owner and managing director Datuk Euro Sakamoto on Wednesday, May 5 said the group is financially sound to undertake the management of the Bukit Jambul Country Club (BJCC), which is owned by Penang Development Corporation's (PDC) subsidiary Island and Golf Properties (IGP) Sdn Bhd.

Pursuant to a tender process carried out by IGP earlier this year, Taiyo was awarded the contract to manage the club.

Speaking on the sidelines of the Penang legislative assembly sitting here yesterday, Sakamoto said the group was capable of managing the BJCC for the long haul and turning it into a better and profitable entity.

He said his experience in golf courses in Malaysia and abroad started in 1975 with his involvement in the construction of the Genting Awana golf course with the late Tan Sri Lim Goh Tong.

Sakamoto also served as the CEO of the Laguna Golf Resort in Singapore and had managed numerous golf courses in Japan, France and England.

He was responding to media reports that cited Gerakan leaders questioning Taiyo's financial status after checks with the Companies Commission of Malaysia (CCM) that showed the group carried liabilities of RM114 million in 2009.

Sakamoto is the managing director of the Kajang Hill Golf Club which is also owned and operated by Taiyo Resort (KL) Bhd, a subsidiary of the Taiyo Group.

"The deficit of RM114 million is just in the books of the holding company Taiyo Resort Development Sdn Bhd. Taiyo does not owe any banks any money as the investments are all my own, and whatever is shown in our financial statements is due mainly to the depreciation of the ringgit," he said.

"I came here 20 years ago to invest with Japanese currency, but over the years, the ringgit has depreciated to half its value. The loss is huge but it is not in the form of any loans from banks but from myself, which is due to depreciation of investments."

Sakamoto added that the Kajang Hill Golf Club had been making profits of RM1 million to RM1.6 million annually.

"Taiyo owns 200 acres of freehold land which is free from incumbrances and we also have RM100 million in assets. What else do I need to manage the BJCC?

"If the company is in financial trouble, we would not have been approached by machinery suppliers to supply machines for the BJCC," he added.

He said the newspapers which had published the articles questioning Taiyo's financial status would also be referred to its lawyers, as the group's reputation had been tarnished by the negative press reports.