Fraser & Neave Holdings Bhd Annual Report 2019

A N N U A L R E P O R T 2 0 1 9 01 Overview 017 BUILDING A LEGACY FOR FUTURE GENERATION F &NHB has stayed the course for more than a century due to the strategic direction of our succession of leaders, ensuring continued relevance. Today, we are once again entering a new era as we announced our plan to invest approximately RM650 million to establish an integrated dairy farm, subject to approval from relevant authorities on the proposed acquisition of Ladang Chuping, Perlis. The integrated dairy farm will propel the Group’s ambition of becoming a major player in the health and wellness segment, with fresh milk as our new pillar of growth. I am particularly excited about this initiative because of the immense value it will create not only for the Group but also to the nation and all Malaysians. While enabling us to build a new business pillar for sustained growth, we will be greatly enhancing local production of affordable fresh milk, helping the country become self-sufficient in meeting Malaysians’ nutritional needs. At the same time, we would be contributing to economic development by boosting the local agriculture sector. Through this venture we would once again be reinforcing the F&N brand as a trusted partner to our valued consumers and society more generally, supporting the multifarious needs of Malaysians. AWARDS & RECOGNITION The quality of our products, our work culture and governance are reflected in the number of awards we continue to garner. 100PLUS once again did us proud by winning its eighth Gold for Non-alcoholic Beverages in the Putra Brand Awards 2019. In the meantime, F&N SEASONS was presented the International Innovation Awards (IIA) 2018 by Enterprise Asia. Further reflecting our quality promise, F&NHB received the QUDAL – Quality Medal for Soft Drinks from the Internal Certification Association (ICERTIAS) while F&B Thailand won the FDA Quality Award from the Thailand Ministry of Public Health’s Food and Drug Administration for the seventh consecutive year. In terms of production, our manufacturing plant in Pulau Indah was recognised for Best Practices in Solid Waste Management 2018 by Solid Waste Corporation (SWCorp). At the same time, F&B Thailand won Gold and Silver Medals in the Thailand Kaizen Award 2019 for continuous improvement and innovative programmes. Our human capital practices are also gaining greater industry recognition. We were the first runner-up in the Fast-Moving Consumer Goods category at the Malaysian Graduates’ Choice Awards 2019. In addition, we were awarded Asia’s Best Employer Brand and Malaysia’s Best Employer Brand by the Employer Branding Institute. It also gives me great pleasure to share that our efforts to build trust with stakeholders through transparency, quality and relevance of our disclosures has been rewarded with the 2019 NACRA Industry Excellence Award for the Consumer Products and Services category. For more industry awards, refer to page 011 of our Annual Report. ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS I would like to acknowledge our management for their foresight and boldness in initiating our new venture into dairy farming. At the same time, I would like to express my gratitude to all our employees for always giving their best, working as one strong team to deliver our goals. To my colleagues on the Board, thank you for your time, commitment and wise counsel. To all other stakeholders, we highly value your contributions to the Group which underline our sustainability. We look forward to your continued support as we increase our emphasis on creating value for you. Tengku Syarif Bendahara Perlis Syed Badarudin Jamalullail Ibni Almarhum Tuanku Syed Putra Jamalullail Chairman Equally encouraging is our ranking in the Minority Shareholder Watchdog Group (MSWG)’s Top 100 Companies for CG Disclosure, which improved from 67 in FY2018 to 51; and from 42 for Overall CG & Performance to 28.