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The Star Online: Business

Clarification
Not a time for clowning around
Carlsberg Malaysia MD Soren Ravn answers yours 10 questions

Posted: 20 May 2011 10:52 PM PDT

Saturday May 21, 2011

WITH reference to StarBiz article "Valuation surprises analysts" on May 20, 2011, MMC Corp Bhd has clarified that its group managing director Datuk Hasni Harun had said: "MMC has few companies which are ready for listing, namely Gas Malaysia, Malakoff and Johor Port. These are three companies which may list."

"This indicates plans for a possible listing by any of these companies in the future, and not an announcement," MMC said.

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Not a time for clowning around

Posted: 20 May 2011 10:37 PM PDT

Should we make it easier for minority shareholders to propose resolutions for general meetings?

CLOWNS can be creepy. Ask Stephen King. In his 1986 novel, It, a murderous demon often shows up in the form of a clown named Pennywise. That character has done quite a bit to help alter the popular perception of clowns, from the universal image of lovable and funny performers into this idea that sometimes, insidious intentions lurk behind the grease paint and the silly costumes and props.

Even in the business world, clowns are finding it hard to hold on to their traditional role of being an acceptable magnet for kids. Recently, amid pressure to re-examine how it markets fast food to children, McDonald's Corp had to defend its use of a yellow-clad clown as a mascot. In a statement issued on Wednesday, with the heading "Ronald McDonald Is Here to Stay", the company says Ronald the clown is "an ambassador for good and delivers important messages to kids on safety, literacy and balanced, active lifestyles".

The statement came a day before the annual shareholders' meeting at the McDonald's headquarters just outside Chicago. Among the proposals that were presented at the meeting was one that required the company to come up with a report "assessing the company's policy responses to public concerns regarding linkages of fast food to childhood obesity, diet-related diseases and other impacts on children's health".

Said the proposal: "Such report should include an assessment of the potential impacts of public concerns and evolving public policy on the company's finances and operations."

Obviously, the proposal didn't originate from the management. It's part of a campaign, led by an organisation called Corporate Accountability International, that targets McDonald's for allegedly marketing junk food to children.

(A related initiative by Corporate Accountability International is to get people, particularly health professionals, to sign an open letter to McDonald's CEO Jim Skinner, which ended with this: "We ask that you heed our concern and retire your marketing promotions for food high in salt, fat, sugar, and calories to children, whatever form they take from Ronald McDonald to toy giveaways. Our children and health care system will benefit from your leadership on this issue.")

The watchdog group teamed up with The Sisters of St Francis of Philadelphia, a McDonald's minority shareholder, to offer the proposal at the meeting on Thursday. The resolution only received 6% support. Nevertheless, this is a fascinating example of a phenomenon in the American corporate scene that's rather alien to us in Malaysia.

According to the rules enforced by the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), shareholders (including those with relatively small amounts of shares) can present a broad range of binding and non-binding proposals for consideration at shareholders' meetings. The companies are obliged to include these proposals alongside management's proposals in the proxy statements given to shareholders ahead of the meetings. According to the SEC, the shareholder proposals can include non-binding proposals regarding matters that are normally within the province of the board and management.

This can be a powerful mechanism for shareholder activism. To be eligible to submit a shareholder proposal, the shareholder's stake must be at least US$2,000 in market value or it must represent at least 1% of the companies securities.

That's a far lower threshold than those in Malaysia's Companies Act 1965. For example, there's Section 151, which stipulates that shareholders can propose members' resolutions at an AGM. But to do that, a shareholder must own at least 5% of the company or the requisition must come from a minimum of 100 shareholders accounting for at least RM50,000 in paid-up capital.

Another route is to requisition for an EGM under Section 145, which says two or more shareholders with not less than 10% of the issued share capital may call for a meeting.

We have seen this happening here, but typically, it's tactic used in shareholder battles to remove directors and to appoint replacements.

Of course, we need to bear in mind that most listed companies in the United States have fragmented shareholding structures, which means it's always very difficult for a single shareholder to impose its will during a shareholders' meeting.

In Malaysia, time and time again we have seen large shareholders (some without majority stakes even) shoving unpopular deals down the throats of the other investors.

So, is it fanciful and futile to wish that minority shareholders in Malaysia have an easier avenue to table resolutions on important matters in general meetings?

That depends on how much we value shareholder activism and corporate responsibility. There's the argument that making it easy for shareholders to introduce members' resolutions at AGMs will lead to fringe groups pushing frivolous, petty and ultimately inconsequential resolutions, thus wasting time and resources.

But is that worse than the minority shareholders and other stakeholders having to jump through a daunting number of hoops before they can use general meetings as platforms for discussions and decisions on major issues affecting a listed company?

The Capital Market Masterplan 2 talks about promoting active shareholder participation, particularly in the nomination and election of board members.

It says: "More active shareholder participation in voting decisions is the primary means for shareholders to communicate their views and to influence the behaviour and conduct of directors. Directors will be more sensitive to shareholder views once they recognise that their election is vulnerable to shareholder pressure. This will place greater awareness on boards of their duties and professional conduct."

That may be so, but must we wait for directors to realise that they're in danger of losing their board seats before we can force them to focus on the things that matter?

Haven't we had enough horror stories already?

Executive editor Errol Oh hasn't been to a circus in years; the corporate sector offers enough thrills and spills already.

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Carlsberg Malaysia MD Soren Ravn answers yours 10 questions

Posted: 20 May 2011 10:12 PM PDT

Carlsberg Malaysia has lost its No. 1 market leadership to Guinness Anchor Bhd (GAB). The recent campaign of changing the design is just pouring new wine into old wineskins. What is your comment? Peter Tan, Cheras

It is true that Carlsberg Malaysia as a company is No. 2 in the Malaysian market when measured on total beer and stout volume but Carlsberg Green Label as a brand remains the No. 1 beer brand in Malaysia. In all the consumer research we did, the Carlsberg brand comes out very significantly as the most preferred beer brand amongst Malaysian beer consumers. In April this year, we successfully rolled out the biggest re-launch campaign in Carlsberg history where Carlsberg, across 140 markets, introduced a new design on both primary and secondary packaging presented in a brand new look with the same great taste.

To regain the spot as the No. 1 beer company in Malaysia, we will need to match or overtake our competitors in the premium segment while continuing the leadership with the Carlsberg brand as our strong power brand. Through acquisition of our subsidiary, Luen Heng, a few years ago, we now have an extensive premium portfolio range in Malaysia. We are the only brewer in Malaysia that has offered seven of the world's top international beer brands, namely Carlsberg, Tuborg, Corona, Budweiser, Stella Artois, Fosters' and Becks'. While the more recent additions include Kronenbourg 1664, the No. 1 premium beer from France; Asahi, the No. 1 beer in Japan and Erdinger, the No. 1 wheat beer from Germany. Our specialty beer such as Hoegaarden is also enjoying very strong growth in the super premium segment.

Over time, we expect the position of Carlsberg as the No. 1 beer complimented by the leading super premium beer portfolio to give us the opportunity to eventually regain the market leadership position.

Brewers often complain about the high taxes in Malaysia but they don't seem to hesitate to raise prices, as in their actions recently. Is that fair as ultimately your consumers will pay one way or the other? Gurmeet Singh, KL

In light of the continuing escalation in the costs of key raw materials, in particular malt and hops as well as packaging materials, we have recently announced a price increase averaging 3%. Most consumer products have also, over the last two years, increased their retail prices. Compared to other consumer products, the price increases on our beer and stout products are relatively lower and in line with general inflation.

I notice a lot more people drinking Hoegaarden which is sold by Carlsberg. Isn't such premium brands cannibalising Carlsberg's main brand? Michelle, Subang

The Hoegaarden brand has successfully achieved its position as the leading imported premium beer in Malaysia with volume growth of more than 150% in 2010 compared to 2009 and is equally popular among both men and women. Hoegaarden is consumed by discerning beer drinkers with a preference for wheat beer over lager beer. Carlsberg beer lovers, on the other hand, stay loyal to the unique taste and aroma of Carlsberg, although they may sample some of the new brands of beer around. We see Hoegaarden complementing the growth of the Carlsberg beer brand as we are now able to supply all the types of beer that a restaurant or bar requires to appeal to its patrons. This also means that we can foster closer ties with the outlets provide them with a full range of beer and cooperate with them on joint campaigns and marketing initiatives. Furthermore, we can supply wine and spirits through our Luen Heng subsidiary and thereby provide a "one stop shopping centre" for our customers. This gives us a big competitive advantage. So, in this case you could say 1 + 1 is 3 as our super premium beer brands complement rather than cannibalise Carlsberg in the big picture.

Carlsberg recorded a revenue of RM1.4bil in 2010. What are your contributions to the society? Khee Chien, KL

Carlsberg Malaysia believes in "Sharing with the Community Unconditionally" and education is the key focus area of our contributions to society. Carlsberg Malaysia's flagship, Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) has contributed to community projects centred on education Top Ten Charity Campaign (Top Ten) has to date raised more than RM350mil for our school-building fund for the development of 570 Chinese schools and institutions nationwide.

This year, Top Ten is celebrating its 25th anniversary and aims to benefit more schools by setting higher targets for collection, adding to its existing stellar credentials as the "Longest running and highest funds raised Chinese charity show" awarded by the Malaysia Book of Records. We have extended a similar fund-raising platform to schools in Sabah and Sarawak. Through different platforms partnering with different NGOs, we have also contributed 4,000 school bags, water tumblers and other school essentials to poor Indians in rural areas and orang asli in Peninsular Malaysia and students of indigenous communities in East Malaysia with the aim at promoting equal opportunity to basic education. On the sport front, Carlsberg Malaysia has been partnering Olympic Council Malaysia (OCM) for the last 16 years by funding the OCM-Carlsberg Athletes Retirement Scheme that serves to provide life insurance endowment coverage to deserving Malaysian athletes and to motivate them to strive for greater achievements. The scheme has to date provided total insurance coverage of RM3.07mil for 88 Malaysian athletes who have made the country proud by winning medals at the Asian Games, Commonwealth Games and the Olympics since 1998.

Carlsberg has been a brewer for a long time in a country that is seen to be Islamic. How is the growing Islamisation of Malaysia affecting your business? Jessica, Kuantan

Carlsberg Malaysia is a public listed company that brews and sells beer, stout and other beverages in Malaysia. We respect the diversity of a multi-racial, multi religious society like Malaysia. We do not see a growing trend of Islamisation in Malaysia affecting our business and have no plans to exit Malaysia. We are a good corporate citizen and contribute significantly to society through tax and duty payments as well as our above mentioned CSR initiatives.

You have headed operations in other countries. Are there any differences in managing the (brewery) business in Malaysia? Awang Hassan, Klang

All markets are different from each other. I learnt a lot when I went to China at the end of 2006 and I believe I have improved my ability to adapt to new cultures and find ways to work efficiently with the local teams and external stakeholders. In the Malaysian society, we have a great mix of people and cultures which I appreciate and respect. It is very important for me to run exciting campaigns for the beer drinkers while respecting the non beer drinkers. In general, I think running a business in Malaysia is a very positive, challenging and exciting experience. In fact, my first year in Malaysia has been the best in my career. I have learnt a lot and am still learning.

Have you conducted any studies into the demographics of the beer drinker in Malaysia? Eugenie Devan, Bangsar

We conducted a lot of studies and read many reports about demographics and opportunities in the market. We have identified some very interesting trends that we pursue with our broad portfolio and several innovation projects. One of the trends we find very exciting is that more females show interest in premium imported beers like our Hoegaarden and Kronenbourg 1664 that we have launched recently. We also put a lot of efforts into understanding the drinkers in their early twenties who are representing the future market. This is an important driver for our global decision to re-launch the Carlsberg brand which we did in April.

What's your favourite beverage (apart from Carlsberg of course)? P.S. Tan, Negri Sembilan

I like Asahi beer. I launched it in Hong Kong when I was the managing director for Carlsberg there from 2008 to 2009. It goes very well with Asian food and hot climate. We are proud that we have started to import Asahi into Malaysia via our Luen Heng subsidiary.

I also like a good glass of red wine.

What's it like being a managing director at such a young age? K.S. Lee, Negri Sembilan

I think it is good to be young in my current job! It is actually very demanding because most of our customers are primarily active during the evenings and night time. That means I do my office work, strategy planning and have meetings during the day and then proceed to the market later in the evening. Maybe have dinner in one place and go for a beer at a few pubs afterwards to meet customers and consumers. Often, there are new outlets to visit or some anniversary to attend to show my support to the owners and management. Normally, these engagements lasts until past midnight and they can come up as frequently as 3 to 4 nights a week.

Nonetheless, I am always up early in the morning for some exercise or to have fun with the children and to be fresh and ready for a new day. I complement my relatively young age with mentorship from experienced seniors in the Company. I meet my Board Chairman for lunch every month. He is like a mentor or coach to me. He guides me in putting things in perspective and sees underlying opportunities. I am also supported by a very experienced Deputy Managing Director whom I meet weekly and discuss almost everything with. I also maintain a good network of key customers who I often discuss, brainstorm ideas and debate alternative angles with.

In fact, I am not young in the beer business. I have been with Carlsberg Group for more than 12 years and in Asia for 5 years now.

How difficult has it been to adjust living in Asia? What are some of the things back home that you miss? Biskuse Tee, PJ

It has been very easy and a pleasure for my family and I to adjust to the Asian lifestyle. We are now in our 5th year of living in this region and the whole family feels very Asian' and have no plans of going back to Europe anytime soon. After more than 3 years in the super busy and hectic Hong Kong, we are now at the end of our first year in Malaysia and are very excited. We have fallen in love with this beautiful country. The people, the weather, the cultural diversity and the variety of food in Asia strongly appeal to me, my wife and the children. What we miss the most are our family, relatives and some of our close friends. Having said so, my parents have visited us more than 10 times in the past 5 years and they are pretty happy about having a good excuse to do so! Most of our friends have been here more than once already and we make it a point to go back to Denmark at least twice a year. I don't miss the Danish weather at all - not sure I am a Viking after all!

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Kredit: www.thestar.com.my

Sabtu, 21 Mei 2011