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Board Appointments
As foreshadowed in last year’s
Annual Report, Board succession
and planning has been at the
forefront of our minds. So during
the year, the Nomination and
Remuneration Committee led
the process which resulted in the
appointment of Dato’ Idris bin
Kechot and Datuk Anuar bin Ahmad
as Independent Non-Executive
Directors. Both Dato’ Idris and
Datuk Anuar bring a wealth of
corporate and industry experience
and the Board believes that the
Group can derive substantial benefit
from their expertise as we move
from one phase of growth and
development to the next.
Further information is set out in the
Profile and Corporate Governance
sections of this Annual Report.
Prospects
We expect our bulking and
food businesses to deliver
organic growth through further
investments and improvement
in their customer offerings
and market expansion. The
manufacturing division’s
performance is expected
to remain fairly subdued
as we project that there
could be further downward
pressure on volumes. Our
plantation division expects this
current financial year to remain
challenging on the back of the
prevailing low commodity prices
arising from inter alia the negative
sentiments on palm oil from
EU and pressures on the US-
China trade dispute. Additional
development expenditure on
the greenfield assets are
also expected to impact the
division’s earnings.
Notwithstanding the
challenges I have
described, our
businesses generate
strong cash flows
which, in combination
with a strong balance
sheet and financial
discipline, should
enable us to cope with
any market disruptions
and competition as we
go forward.
As a Board, we had spent time in
FYE2019 reviewing our strategy
with the management team in
light of market dynamics, and as
new M&A and capital expenditure
opportunities were presented.
We remain acquisitive in nature
and will seek and pursue
opportunities in desired sectors
and to expand our plantation
landbank, but as always, such
acquisitions will be considered
provided they meet the Group’s
investment returns criteria and
the Board has comfort in the
Group’s gearing and funding
capacity.
Appreciation &
Acknowledgement
I would like to close by thanking
the Board for their guidance and
support to me during the year.
I would also like to thank our
employees, suppliers, business
Kumpulan Fima Berhad
(11817-V)
Annual Report 2019
30