2020 Annual General Shareholders’ Meeting of FENC－Focus on Global Supply Chain Management, Develop Innovative Materials for Green & Hygiene Products, and Enhance the Shareholders’ Value

Far Eastern New Century Corporation (Stock code: 1402, hereinafter referred to as “FENC” or “the Company”) held its 2020 Annual General Shareholders’ Meeting at the Taipei Hero House auditorium at 9:00 AM on 30 June with Chairman Douglas Tong Hsu presiding. During the meeting, the management team reported the 2019 financial results and the four key post-COVID19 strategies for its three major business segments – production, investments, and property development.

• Impressive Operating Performance in 2019

FENC’s 2019 consolidated revenue reached NT$250.1 billion (US$ 8.44 billion), a 9% growth YoY. The Company’s total assets grew by 2% to NT$576.1 billion (US$ 19.45 billion) by the end of 2019. Due to newly added capacities, record highs were achieved in revenue and asset value. Net income attributable to shareholders of the Company was NT$10.73 billion (US$ 362 million), or an EPS of NT$2.15 (US¢7.26). The cash dividend of NT$1.5 (or US¢5.06) per share was accepted during the meeting, at a yield of 5.4% based on the closing stock price on 29 June. Despite the widespread coronavirus pandemic and drastic volatility of oil prices, FENC has managed to maintain a solid operation, with Q1 consolidated revenue of NT$52.2 billion (US$ 1.76 billion), and net income attributable to shareholders of the Company standing at NT$1.5 billion (US$ 50.6 million).

• Solidifying the Global Supply Chain

FENC’s production business is composed of the petrochemical, polyester and textile businesses, and it is the world’s leading supplier that provides integrated production and total solution services ranging from upstream feedstock PTA to downstream daily necessities. After the coronavirus outbreak, in order to meet local daily necessities demand, some governments requested FENC to run its production sites at full capacity to meet local demands. Given that FENC’s holistic and solid supply chain with its three core competencies, including global sales and production network, comprehensive product portfolio, and integrated vertical production sites, FENC has stood out during the pandemic.While the coronavirus pandemic has left many smaller manufacturers struggling to cope with steep drops in orders, FENC’s global brand customers have maintained their solid relationships with the Company as strong evidence of the Company’s competitiveness and resilience. 

• Beating the pandemic with innovative hygiene materials 

FENC has been producing and developing medical and hygiene application materials for a long time. During the COVID-19 pandemic period, as the largest global PE/PP and PE/PET medical material supplier, it not only provides medical fibers for medical facemask manufacturers at home and abroad, but also has been developing a new kind of microfiber to replace meltblown nonwoven materials while exporting to the EU, Australia and Turkey, etc. By timely adjusting its flexible production lines, FENC provides the sheets for medical face shields and medical protective clothing to protect frontline medical teams’ health around the world. The medical and hygiene materials bring the Company growing revenues and is evidence of its successful long-term investment in the field. Currently, FENC has invested a lot of resources to develop post-COVID19 products, including but not limited to washing-resistant, anti-bacterial, anti-virus, high breathability and high efficiency materials, and aims to apply them in the fields of functional apparel, home textiles, medical applications, transportation, hotels and restaurants.

• Promoting Circular Economy

FENC has made great efforts to build an industry chain conducive to the development of a circular economy, converting recycled PET bottles to new bottles, clothing, footwear and packaging materials, etc. The Company’s customer base is made up of world-class leaders across a broad range of industries, including Nike, Adidas, Coca-Cola, IKEA, Unilever, Colgate, and L'Oréal. While its production of recycled PET(rPET) ranks second in the world, FENC sits atop the industry with the world’s largest capacity for food-grade rPET. Its production sites span from Taiwan, China, Japan to the United States. Expansion of its global capacity is underway, including scaling up capacity in Japan, with new production lines planned to be added in Vietnam and the Philippines. FENC’s outstanding performance in the circular economy has been acknowledged by the visits of officials from the United Nations, European Commission and US government. FENC’s success stories are widely circulated around the world.  

• Rising on the World Stage as a Sustainable Enterprise

FENC has long been committed to being a global role model in sustainability development. It has demonstrated excellence in corporate social responsibility as well as to constantly strike a balance among corporate governance, environment, and society. Thanks to the employees’ collective efforts, the Company ranks top 5% of the listed companies in the Corporate Governance Evaluation conducted by Taiwan Stock Exchange and was honored with various CSR awards at home and abroad. For example, in 2019, FENC won eight awards from GCSA (Global Corporate Sustainability Awards) and TCSA (Taiwan Corporate Sustainability Awards), and was the only winner of the GCSA’s first “Best Practice Award - World Class - Outstanding Practice”. In 2020, the Company won two awards of “Model Award for Environmental Friendliness” and “Grand Prize” in the Global Views Monthly’s CSR Annual Survey. FENC has also been selected as constituents of various global sustainability indices.

Over the past 70 plus years since its inception, FENC has become the leader in the polyester industry with proven track records in business management and operations. In the future, with its commitment to striving for excellence, the Company will stick to its four key post-COVID19 strategies to enhance its sustainability, transformation, and business competitiveness.   ＃