Uni-President Enterprises Corp (UPE, 統一企業) yesterday confirmed that founder and honorary chairman Kao Ching-yuan (高清愿) died last week at the age of 88.
A private funeral was held in Tainan’s Yongkang District (永康) yesterday, attended only by Kao’s family and friends, as well as Uni-President employees.
Born in Tainan on May 24, 1929, Kao was from a poor family and was not formally educated beyond elementary school. He founded UPE in 1967 and served as its chairman until 2013.
Photo: Yang Ya-min, Taipei Times
The company grew to become a conglomerate encompassing food manufacturing, retail, leisure and express-delivery services. It also operates the Starbucks coffee chain in Taiwan via a joint venture with the Seattle-based group.
The conglomerate is also known for operating 7-Eleven, the nation’s largest convenience store chain, through its affiliate President Chain Store Corp (PCSC, 統一超商).
Kao launched the convenience store chain in the 1980s, aiming to expand retail channels available for UPE products.
Photo: Wu Chun-feng, Taipei Times
UPE’s footprint expanded in the 1990s, with manufacturing bases set up in China, Indonesia, Thailand and other countries.
Kao, who had only one child, handed over the business to his son-in-law, Alex Lo (羅智先), in November 2013. Since then, the company has continued to grow under Lo’s leadership, weathering a series of food-safety crises in Taiwan while expanding its presence in China.
Lo’s management style and strategy of focusing on improving margins over sales growth has been well received by the market, with foreign institutional investors raising their holdings in UPE from about 44 percent to 52 percent in the past decade.
However, a potential succession challenge is on the horizon, as Lo had established a rule stipulating that key executives must retire at the age of 60 to make way for new talent.
Lo’s 60th birthday is this year.
Lo is expected to conform to the rule he has set, but major stakeholders in the company are likely to try to convince him to stay to avoid disruptions in leadership, industry observers said.
In addition, the company’s triennial board elections are to take place this year.
UPE’s net income rose 26.8 percent annually to NT$14.11 billion (US$435.79 million) last year, with earnings per share (EPS) of NT$2.48. Consolidated sales dipped 0.5 percent year-on-year to NT$416.15 billion.
PCSC’s net income decreased 9.8 percent to NT$8.24 billion last year, with EPS of NT$7.92, while consolidated sales grew 2.52 percent to NT$205.5 billion.
Despite a tepid consumption environment, UPE is expected to see continued solid growth and market share gains in all segments, driven by new product launches and contributions from its Chinese subsidiary, Uni-President China Holdings Ltd (UPC, 統一中國控股), Yuanta Securities Investment Consulting Co (元大投顧) said in a note this week.
Uni-President China last year saw net income rise 192 percent annually to 835 million yuan (US$129.18 million) as it continued its high-end product focus, coupled with a strong pipeline of new products, Yuanta said.
FREEDOM OF NAVIGATION: The UK would continue to reinforce ties with Taiwan ‘in a wide range of areas’ as a part of a ‘strong unofficial relationship,’ a paper said The UK plans to conduct more freedom of navigation operations in the Taiwan Strait and the South China Sea, British Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs David Lammy told the British House of Commons on Tuesday. British Member of Parliament Desmond Swayne said that the Royal Navy’s HMS Spey had passed through the Taiwan Strait “in pursuit of vital international freedom of navigation in the South China Sea.” Swayne asked Lammy whether he agreed that it was “proper and lawful” to do so, and if the UK would continue to carry out similar operations. Lammy replied “yes” to both questions. The
‘OF COURSE A COUNTRY’: The president outlined that Taiwan has all the necessary features of a nation, including citizens, land, government and sovereignty President William Lai (賴清德) discussed the meaning of “nation” during a speech in New Taipei City last night, emphasizing that Taiwan is a country as he condemned China’s misinterpretation of UN Resolution 2758. The speech was the first in a series of 10 that Lai is scheduled to give across Taiwan. It is the responsibility of Taiwanese citizens to stand united to defend their national sovereignty, democracy, liberty, way of life and the future of the next generation, Lai said. This is the most important legacy the people of this era could pass on to future generations, he said. Lai went on to discuss
AMENDMENT: Climate change is expected to increase the frequency of high-temperature days, affecting economic productivity and public health, experts said The Central Weather Administration (CWA) is considering amending the Meteorological Act (氣象法) to classify “high temperatures” as “hazardous weather,” providing a legal basis for work or school closures due to extreme heat. CWA Administrator Lu Kuo-chen (呂國臣) yesterday said the agency plans to submit the proposed amendments to the Executive Yuan for review in the fourth quarter this year. The CWA has been monitoring high-temperature trends for an extended period, and the agency contributes scientific data to the recently established High Temperature Response Alliance led by the Ministry of Environment, Lu said. The data include temperature, humidity, radiation intensity and ambient wind,
SECOND SPEECH: All political parties should work together to defend democracy, protect Taiwan and resist the CCP, despite their differences, the president said President William Lai (賴清德) yesterday discussed how pro-Taiwan and pro-Republic of China (ROC) groups can agree to maintain solidarity on the issue of protecting Taiwan and resisting the Chinese Communist Party (CCP). The talk, delivered last night at Taoyuan’s Hakka Youth Association, was the second in a series of 10 that Lai is scheduled to give across Taiwan. Citing Taiwanese democracy pioneer Chiang Wei-shui’s (蔣渭水) slogan that solidarity brings strength, Lai said it was a call for political parties to find consensus amid disagreements on behalf of bettering the nation. All political parties should work together to defend democracy, protect Taiwan and resist