KUALA LUMPUR: Fraser & Neave Holdings Bhd is confident about its prospect in 2023 after an "exciting 2022".
"Overall, 2022 has been an exciting year of progress in realising our long-term goals and strategies," F&N chief executive officer Lim Yew Hoe said.
He expressed confidence moving into 2023, backed by shareholders' support towards future-proofing the group's business while capturing new opportunities.
"We are strengthening our ambition for the group's fourth pillar of growth - Halal packaged food, with the acquisition of Cocoaland Holdings Bhd.
"We are also focusing on our investment for a sustainable future, with proactive measures to build our internal capacity to achieve business and environment objectives," said Lim after F&N;s 61st annual general meeting today.
With the acquisition of Ladang Permai Damai Sdn Bhd, Lim said F&N was back on track to fulfil its ambition on the upstream fresh milk business for downstream production and distribution of fresh milk, in support of the National Food Security Agenda in dairy and beef.
The group will own a vertical integration business and operations based on the locally-grown crop for feed to F&N's dairy farm.
The integrated farm will also feature a milk processing facility and will ultimately produce 200 million litres of fresh milk yearly with 20,000 milking cows for the local and international markets.
F&N is looking to invest over RM800 million for the integrated farm, with Phase 1 to be operational in December 2024.
The company said the acquisition of Cocoaland aligned with its ambition to be a stable and sustainable F&B leader in Asean.
"This investment will not only add established Malaysian confectionery and snack brands to the group's portfolio but will also serve as a platform to expand into more halal food segments and to meet the rising demand for packaged food products.
"We see huge potential to grow our share in this category, especially in the healthy and functional range," Lim said.
F&N plans to build upon Cocoaland's strengths and invest in the brand to introduce new portfolios such as plant-based and health and wellness products.
"Currently, we are focusing on the integration of the two businesses and look forward to leveraging the strengths of both organisations to generate synergistic values for shareholders," he said.
Lim also highlighted the group's newly-completed liquid milk and plant-based beverages factory in Wang Muang, Thailand.
The RM128 million plant represents a strategic shift for F&N to play a bigger role in the health and wellness segment as part of its commitment to nutrition.
Lim said currently, about 60 per cent of F&N's total portfolio was endorsed with a Healthier
Choice symbol or logo, and the group was targeting to increase this to two-thirds by 2025.
On the business performance front, Lim acknowledged that 2022 had been a challenging year,
but the group had been resilient and had good reason to look forward to a reinvigorated 2023.
"Our overall performance in FY2022, especially in the last quarter, has given us ample reasons for optimism. In Q4, we began to see improved margins, attributable to the effective strategies we have put in place in response to the challenging marketplace.
"We are also beginning to see the results of the unwavering focus on our long-term strategies for growth and efficiency. We have been able to follow through with completing our acquisition and capex plans in 2022. The investments we had made in recent years are bearing fruit today," he added.
During the AGM, Tthe company recorded its appreciation to Datuk Jorgen Bornhoft for his services and contribution as a non-independent, non-executive director for the past nine years and eight months.
It also welcomed Michael Chye to the board as a non-independent, non-executive director. Mr Chye is the chief of beer product group at Thai Beverage Public Co Ltd.
Shareholders at the AGM approved the payment of a final single-tier dividend of 33 sen per share, amounting to a total dividend of 60.0 sen per share for financial year 2022 (2021: 60.0 sen per share) and payable to shareholders on Feb 10.