Frieslandcampina's Members' Council Appoints New Board Member And
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For moreadditional information: information: FrieslandCampina Corporate Communication Jan-Willem ter Avest T + 31 (0)(0)33 33 713713 38853885 [email protected] www.frieslandcampina.com FrieslandCampina’s members’ council appoints new board member and approves investment in Indonesia Management provides members’ council with update on developments in the company and the market On Wednesday, 30th September 2020, the members' council of Zuivelcoöperatie FrieslandCampina U.A. decided on a number of proposals, and the board and management updated the council on developments within the cooperative, the company and the markets in which FrieslandCampina is active. The latter also with a view to the coronavirus that has flared up again in many countries in recent weeks. Appointment new board member The members’ council has appointed Mr Frans van den Hurk to the board of Zuivelcoöperatie FrieslandCampina U.A. Van den Hurk is appointed for a period of four years, with the option of reappointment. The appointment is effective as of 15 December 2020. At the same time Van den Hurk has been appointed to the supervisory board of Royal FrieslandCampina N.V. Mr Frans Keurentjes, chairman of Zuivelcoöperatie FrieslandCampina U.A., welcomes the appointment of Mr Van den Hurk, commenting: “Frans has a great deal of experience as a senior administrator of a cooperative and is an experienced entrepreneur. He has a reputation for being a real team player, who is passionate about the cooperative cause and is committed to the interests of its members. As such, I am delighted to welcome Frans to the board of the cooperative and to the supervisory board of Royal FrieslandCampina N.V. On behalf of the board, I wish him every success in these roles.” Frans van den Hurk owns a dairy farm in Lieshout (the Netherlands) and sat on the district councils of FrieslandCampina’s legal precursors between 1997 and 2005. In addition, he held various senior management posts at Rabobank for nearly fourteen years. Mr Van den Hurk will be succeeding Gjalt Mulder, who has indicated that he is unavailable for a second term. Growth investment in Indonesia The members’ council has also approved the construction of a large new dairy plant and distribution centre for Frisian Flag Indonesia in the Jakarta area. As part of the plan, the current production site at Pasar Rebo will be converted into the production centre for local infant nutrition brands for Asia. The total investment amounts to about 250 million euros, which is crucial to ensuring continued growth in Indonesia in the future – one of FrieslandCampina’s largest and fastest-growing markets. Hein Schumacher, CEO of Royal FrieslandCampina N.V. said about this significant investment: “This expansion will allow us to provide even more people in Indonesia with our nutritious dairy products in the future. In nearly a hundred years Frisian Flag®, or “Susu Bendera”, as the Indonesians call it, has grown into a brand known to almost everyone in Indonesia and it is the only dairy brand in the Top 10 FMCG brands. The construction of a new production site will allow us to continue to grow and contribute to the development of the Indonesian economy and dairy sector.” 1 The construction of the new dairy plant for the production of condensed and pasteurised milk is scheduled to begin in April 2021. Total production capacity will exceed half a billion kilos of finished product, with the possibility to expand to one billion kilos. The conversion of the Pasar Rebo production site into the central production centre for local infant nutrition brands for Asia is set to take place concurrently. Both projects should be completed by the first half of 2024. Frisian Flag Indonesia is one of the largest dairy companies in Indonesia. In total, Frisian Flag Indonesia employs around 3,000 people, with some 2,000 vendors on the road each day through distributors, working to supply all 350,000 outlets across Indonesia with dairy products. Update on developments within the company and the market During a business update, CEO Hein Schumacher briefed the members’ council members on the latest developments within the company and the global dairy market. In line with previous communications, including the press release on 23 July containing the interim figures for 2020, Hein Schumacher stated that the coronavirus pandemic is severely impacting the global economy in 2020 and that economic recovery is expected to take some time. These uncertain times, with questions ranging from the effects of a second wave of coronavirus cases to when a vaccine or drug will be available, will also have negative impact on FrieslandCampina’s results in 2020 compared to 2019. Milk and dairy prices still under pressure The prices of milk and dairy products fell drastically in the immediate aftermath of the coronavirus outbreak in March and April. Although these prices have since recovered, they are still below pre-pandemic levels. This has led to difficult market conditions for the Dairy Essentials business group, which processes and adds value to a significant portion of FrieslandCampina’s member milk and also sells basic dairy products such as powdered milk, butter and packaged cheese. US dollar/Nigerian naira exchange rate and possible import restrictions in Nigeria In addition to the drop in basic dairy prices since the beginning of 2020, the prices of raw materials – particularly mineral oil – are at very low levels as well, which is having a major impact on the economies of countries that rely heavily on revenues from these products. For FrieslandCampina, the main concern is Nigeria, where the exchange rate between the local currency (naira) and the U.S. dollar is under big pressure and the government is currently considering protectionist measures to stop the outflow of dollars from the country. These potential measures include reducing or banning the import of raw materials and food products such as milk and fish. This is a worrying development, whose possible outcome and subsequent impact on the results of FrieslandCampina WAMCO, the operating company in Nigeria, are still uncertain at this time. Out-of-home sector hit hard The global out-of-home (hospitality) sector was severely impacted by the coronavirus in the second quarter of 2020 and is still suffering the effects. Although the sector rebounded in the months of June and July due to the lifting of the lockdown measures in many countries and the start of the summer period in the Northern hemisphere, the second wave of coronavirus cases that now seems to be occurring in several countries will negatively impact the situation in this sector and thus the results of FrieslandCampina’s out-of-home business. Ongoing difficult market conditions in Hong Kong As mentioned in the 2020 interim report, the corona pandemic and social unrest have also led to difficult market conditions for FrieslandCampina in Hong Kong, which has traditionally 2 been an important gateway for FrieslandCampina to the south of China. Due to the corona crisis as well as the closed borders with China and the massive lack of Chinese tourists that has ensued, sales of infant nutrition have declined sharply in Hong Kong. To mitigate this impact FrieslandCampina has selected an alternative route to market with a strong emphasis on e-commerce. Due to the developments mentioned above, the results in Hong Kong can be substantially impacted negatively in the second half of 2020. Also positive developments Partially offsetting the challenges outlined above, there have also been positive developments. The consumer brands in the retail channel are doing well, for example, and FrieslandCampina has gained market share in many important consumer markets, including the home markets of the Netherlands and Germany, as well as large markets such as China, Indonesia, Pakistan and Nigeria. The Ingredients business group is also well on the way to strengthen its global market position in 2020, having recently announced plans for a six-fold increase in its production capacity for the infant nutrition ingredient lactoferrin in Veghel (the Netherlands). On the cost side, the company is focused on reducing selling, general and administrative expenses (overhead) through internal programmes, and has also decreased marketing and promotional expenses. The company is also exploring other ways to address its cost structure, including optimising the factory network and structurally increasing productivity. The final development of the recent period was the successful issuance and listing (on Euronext Dublin) of a perpetual, hybrid bond of EUR 300 million on 10 September, at an effective interest rate of 2.875%. Zuivelcoöperatie FrieslandCampina U.A. Zuivelcoöperatie FrieslandCampina U.A. is a joint venture of dairy farmers in the Netherlands, Germany and Belgium. The objective of the cooperative is to valorise the milk of its members and so create value in a sustainable way for all its member dairy farmers. This is expressed in the milk price and in the return of the capital that members provide Zuivelcoöperatie FrieslandCampina U.A. with. Zuivelcoöperatie FrieslandCampina U.A. is a cooperative with a wide diversity of dairy farms and development requirements of the owners. The cooperative promotes the interests of its members and exercises its voting right with respect to the shares in Royal FrieslandCampina N.V. The 17,413 members (11,476 member dairy farms) united in Zuivelcoöperatie FrieslandCampina U.A. are through the cooperative the owners of Royal FrieslandCampina N.V. as well as the suppliers of milk to Royal FrieslandCampina N.V. Royal FrieslandCampina N.V. Royal FrieslandCampina daily provides millions of consumers throughout the world with dairy products containing valuable nutrients from milk. FrieslandCampina produces and sells consumer products such as dairy drinks, infant nutrition, condensed milk, cheese and desserts. It supplies cream and butter products for professional use to bakeries and catering businesses.