Uni-President Enterprises Co (統一企業) chairman Kao Ching-yuan (高清愿) yesterday tendered his resignation, handing over the reins to his son-in-law after decades at the top of the country’s food sector.
The 84-year-old Kao, who spent 46 years with the nation’s largest food company conglomerate, will still sit on the company’s board after resigning from the chairmanship, the company said in a statement.
Uni-President president Alex Lo (羅智先), 57, will assume the chairmanship as well as his current position at the company, which his father-in-law founded in 1967 in Greater Tainan’s Yongkang (永康).
Lo, who entered the company in 1985, took his current position in 2007 and is likely to keep the title of president until his tenure ends in 2016, he said at the company’s shareholders’ meeting earlier this year.
"We do not consider the management change as surprising but believe the new position will further empower Lo in enhancing the group’s operational efficiency and synergy among different group entities," Deutsche Bank analyst Joelian Tseng (曾慧瓊) said in a client note yesterday.
Uni-President’s chairmanship change, which took effect yesterday following a board meeting, came amid the latest food safety scare in Taiwan.
Several food manufacturers — including Ting Hsin International Group (頂新集團) and Namchow Group (南僑集團) — have been questioned and inspected to determine whether their products contain the food additive copper chlorophyllin, which is banned from use in edible oil and noodle products because it results in oil oxidation upon heating, which can lead to liver and kidney damage if ingested.
Uni-President’s retailing subsidiaries Santa Cruz Organic Food (聖德科斯) and President Chain Store Corp (統一超商) have been ordered by local health regulators to take some of their products — including energy soup, green milk tea and cold noodles — off the shelves this week after they were found to contain copper chlorophyllin, rather than the natural chlorophyll listed on their packaging.
Uni-President yesterday said it expected the incident to have limited impact on its business and shareholders’ interests. It did not comment on whether there was a connection between its chairmanship change and the food safety issue.
Tseng said the incident would have limited impact on the company, given the small earnings contribution from those subsidiaries and the affected products.
With a portfolio ranging from instant noodle and beverage products, retailing and pharmaceuticals to property development and securities brokerage, Uni-President is one of the nation’s largest conglomerates.
In China, the company also has exposure in instant noodle and ready-to-drink tea and juice businesses through Uni-President China Holdings Ltd (統一中國控股) and Uni-President Southeast Asia Holdings Ltd.
Lo faces challenges to restructure the company and improve its profitability amid a tougher environment in its home market and in China, where competition is increasing, but consumption weakening.
Analysts say that the company needs to continue strengthening its brand image and enhancing product differentiation to adapt to the tougher environment.
Last year, Uni-President reported consolidated revenue of NT$427.52 billion (US$14.43 billion), up 10.2 percent from 2011, while net profit grew 31.3 percent year-on-year to NT$12.41 billion, or earnings per share of NT$2.41.
In the first three quarters this year, the company saw its net profit increase by an annual rate of 8.9 percent to NT$10.98 billion, or NT$2.13 per share. Consolidated revenue expanded 5.04 percent to NT$359.64 billion in the first 10 months from a year earlier, according to company filings to the Taiwan Stock Exchange.
Uni-President shares rose 0.93 percent to close at NT$54 yesterday on the Taiwan Stock Exchange.
This story has been updated since it was first published.
To many, Tatu City on the outskirts of Nairobi looks like a success. The first city entirely built by a private company to be operational in east Africa, with about 25,000 people living and working there, it accounts for about two-thirds of all foreign investment in Kenya. Its low-tax status has attracted more than 100 businesses including Heineken, coffee brand Dormans, and the biggest call-center and cold-chain transport firms in the region. However, to some local politicians, Tatu City has looked more like a target for extortion. A parade of governors have demanded land worth millions of dollars in exchange
An Indonesian animated movie is smashing regional box office records and could be set for wider success as it prepares to open beyond the Southeast Asian archipelago’s silver screens. Jumbo — a film based on the adventures of main character, Don, a large orphaned Indonesian boy facing bullying at school — last month became the highest-grossing Southeast Asian animated film, raking in more than US$8 million. Released at the end of March to coincide with the Eid holidays after the Islamic fasting month of Ramadan, the movie has hit 8 million ticket sales, the third-highest in Indonesian cinema history, Film
BIG BUCKS: Chairman Wei is expected to receive NT$34.12 million on a proposed NT$5 cash dividend plan, while the National Development Fund would get NT$8.27 billion Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電), the world’s largest contract chipmaker, yesterday announced that its board of directors approved US$15.25 billion in capital appropriations for long-term expansion to meet growing demand. The funds are to be used for installing advanced technology and packaging capacity, expanding mature and specialty technology, and constructing fabs with facility systems, TSMC said in a statement. The board also approved a proposal to distribute a NT$5 cash dividend per share, based on first-quarter earnings per share of NT$13.94, it said. That surpasses the NT$4.50 dividend for the fourth quarter of last year. TSMC has said that while it is eager
‘IMMENSE SWAY’: The top 50 companies, based on market cap, shape everything from technology to consumer trends, advisory firm Visual Capitalist said Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電) was ranked the 10th-most valuable company globally this year, market information advisory firm Visual Capitalist said. TSMC sat on a market cap of about US$915 billion as of Monday last week, making it the 10th-most valuable company in the world and No. 1 in Asia, the publisher said in its “50 Most Valuable Companies in the World” list. Visual Capitalist described TSMC as the world’s largest dedicated semiconductor foundry operator that rolls out chips for major tech names such as US consumer electronics brand Apple Inc, and artificial intelligence (AI) chip designers Nvidia Corp and Advanced
RSS