MARKET DEVELOPMENT
10-01-2002
Golden Hope to make presence felt with refinery
Kuala Lumpur, 10 January, 2002 (Business Times) - GOLDEN Hope PlantationBhd is poised to make its mark in the world edible oils market with thesuccessful purchase of Unilever Nederland BV’s 60 million euro (1 euro =RM3.43) palm oil refinery in the Netherlands.Industry observers say the move is an important milestone in Malaysia’spalm oil sector, which will hopefully spur other plantation companies tofollow suit in making downstream investments.“With the purchase, Golden Hope has given a serious challenge to otherplantation companies that are serious in making their mark overseas,†ananalyst told Business Times in Kuala Lumpur yesterday.British-Dutch food and consumer products giant Unilever announcedyesterday the sale of its Unimills refinery business to Golden Hope forapproximately 60 million euro.Unilever press officer Seline Luysterburg said in a statement that thesale of the refinery, located at Zwijndrecht with 210 employees, is partof Unilever’s strategy to focus on its core businesses.The announcement brings Unilever’s intention to sell Unimills, which wasannounced on June 27 2000, to an end.It also wrapped up negotiations with Golden Hope which started in November2001.“The purchase by Golden Hope is in line with Unilever’s existing strategyto expand and diversify in order to achieve larger market share and growthand to support its food-based industry globally,†Luysterburg concluded.Sources said Golden Hope group chief executive officer Datuk Abdul WahabMaskan is currently in the Netherlands overseeing matters pertaining tothe deal, and is only expected to return to Malaysia next week.Meanwhile, a plantation analyst said Golden Hope’s acquisition will turnout to be a worthwhile investment in the future.“It may not bring in returns right away, but just making a presence inEurope is a huge feather in the cap for the company,†she said.She added that the refinery is located near the vicinity of the world’sfourth-biggest port, Rotterdam, which is a major loading and transit pointfor the world’s major edible oils which include palm oil, soyabean oil,rapeseed oil and groundnut oil, before being distributed to other parts ofEurope.She said, subsequently, with the right management and good work practicesadopted at the plant, Golden Hope can hope to diversify in the processingof other edible oils and make a mark in other European countries such asPoland and Denmark.Another analyst commented that Europe itself is a hotbed of establishedrefineries involved in the making of margerine and shortening.“The move is long overdue actually, because the industry has longadvocated companies to diversify and invest downstream to grab a biggershare of the world edible oil market, of which palm oil holds at 60 percent,†he said.The Unimills refinery’s annual sales to third partiesin central andnorthwestern Europe alone is worth some 130 million euro. The refinary hasan annual capacity to process 450,000 tonnes of palm kernel, coconut,soyabean, rapeseed and sunflower oil.Unilever, with products such as Lipton tea, Sunsilk shampoo, Breeze, Dovesoap, Walls ice-cream and Calvin Klein fragrances, plans to focus on 400leading brands starting 2004 from 1,200 brands previously.Unilever, with operations in 40 countries, had announced a sweepingreorganisation plan in February 2000 to boost sales growth of between 5per cent and 8 per cent and achieve profit margins of between 16 per centand 17 per cent by 2004.Last year, Unilever recorded sales of US$44.81 billion (US$1 = RM3.80) andan income of US$1.04 billion.In Malaysia, Unilever produces and markets a number of household productssuch as detergents, margarine and confectionaries with refined palm oil,palm kernel and oleo-chemicals as its base material.It also owns several oil palm estates in Johor, Sabah and Sarawak withwholly-owned subsidiary Pamol Plantations Sdn Bhd managing 24,291ha.Golden Hope, meanwhile, also has three other edible oil refineryoperations overseas — in Vietnam, China and Bangladesh.As a comparison, other plantation companies such as United Plantations Bhdhas palm oil operations in Mexico, the US and the UK while Sime Darby Bhdowns a refinery in Egypt and the Kwok Group has a refinery in China.Golden Hope, in its last financial year ended June 30 2001, recorded apre-tax profit of RM78 million on the back of a RM1.3 billion turnover.Multex Global Estimates, which compiles forecasts from 17 research houses,projects Golden Hope to make a net profit of RM139 million on the back ofa RM1.58 billion turnover with earning per share of RM13.72 .At the Kuala Lumpur Stock Exchange, Golden Hope shares closed 4 sen lowerat RM3.50 with 73,000 shares changing hands.
