The firm weighs in on former CEO's comments on its prospects
The drama surrounding the sudden resignation of Fraser & Neave (F&N) chief executive officer Han Cheng Fong became more intense yesterday with the conglomerate weighing in on his comments on its prospects.
F&N was responding to reports in The Straits Times and Business Times on Saturday on Dr Han's resignation, which took immediate effect on Friday.
Both newspapers quoted Dr Han as saying that F&N "is going to end this year with sterling quality performance".
Also, Dr Han was "confident the next five years promise strong double-digit growth and F&N is likely to achieve a doubling of this year's bottom line performance by the end of the fifth year", they reported.
In its statement filed with the Singapore Exchange yesterday, F&N distanced itself from Dr Han's reported statement, warning investors "not to act on information which has not been issued by the com-pany".
F&N's outlook for the year, announced in its Aug 10 third-quarter results, had stated that "barring any unforeseen circumstances, the group's performance is expected to improve over that of the previous year", the company reiterated.
Also, "the group does not make public forecasts of its long-term performance", F&N said, even as it acknowledged that it had set itself a target of 10-per-cent improvement each year.
On Friday, F&N said in its statement to the SGX that Dr Han resigned due to "differences of opinion with the board".
When asked by Today to elaborate, F&N had said the company didn't want "to dwell on the details" as it "has to protect what might be commercially-sensitive information".
F&N added that the departure of Dr Han's and the appointment of former SingTel chief executive Lee Hsien Yang are "unconnected" although the timing of the two "is unfortunately close".
Source : The Straits Times, Oct 8, 2007
ReplyDeleteNo link in chairman's arrival, CEO's exit: F&N
I REFER to the article, 'F&N chief quits due to 'differences of opinion'' (ST, Oct 6).
By the juxtaposition of photographs and the headline above, the story gives the irresponsible impression that the departure of Dr Han Cheng Fong from F&N is linked to Mr Lee Hsien Yang's 'imminent arrival as the firm's new chairman'.
While the timing is unfortunately close, we wish to state that the two events are unconnected and thus the report leaves a completely false impression.
We also refer to the comments reportedly made by Dr Han on the financial performance of F&N for the financial year just ended on Sept 30, and on its prospects for the next five years.
The company's statement on the outlook for the year, in its third-quarter results announcement on Aug 10, reads:
'Barring any unforeseen circumstances, the group's performance is expected to improve over that of the previous year.'
Additionally, while it is known that the group has set itself a target of 10 per cent improvement each year, the group does not make public forecasts of its long-term performance.
Investors are advised not to act on information which has not been issued by the company.
Anthony Cheong
Group Company Secretary
Fraser & Neave
HAN'S EXIT, LEE'S ARRIVAL NOT CONNECTED: F&N, H22