FGV Annual Report 2020

Chairman’s Statement A MORE ENGAGED, COHESIVE, CONSULTATIVE BOARD Our Board today comprises five (5) independent subject matter experts from different fields and four non-independent directors, who together offer counsel and ready support for the management. It is also a more engaging board that communicates frequently with each other and also with senior management, mainly through various online platforms for most of the COVID-19 stricken year. We exchanged ideas and opinions, and there was healthy debate, but all decisions were made based on the facts and figures before us. We were clear about one thing: all decisions must be made in the best interests of FGV. Our goal is to build FGV into an efficient, responsible and high performing public listed company that meets its obligations to diverse stakeholders. During the year, we welcomed three (3) members of our Independent Advisory Panel (IAP) that was established at the end of 2019. They are well-respected names in sustainability, environment and business. The IAP is a good platform to guide the Board on what to do and how to do it especially with regard to sustainability. The IAP also offers us an outside perspective that is invaluable for a company with a global footprint. They have given us frank feedback and offered insights, to help steer FGV in the right direction. For me personally, the IAP was like a checkpoint that made us pause and weigh the impact of our decisions and actions, as IAP often looks at things through a different lens. I am glad to announce that the investigations announced by the Board in 2018 have been completed and the Board has directed actions to be taken accordingly. As a result, reports were filed to the relevant authorities and two (2) suits were commenced against the former directors and previous management of FGV. The suits are ongoing and will be updated from time to time. The Group registered a total revenue of RM14.08 BILLION and net earnings PER SHARE of 4 SEN. A DIVIDEND PAYOUT OF 3 SEN PER SHARE WAS DECLARED. Profit Before Zakat and Taxation (RM) >100% 346 Mil FY2019 (RM339) Million Revenue (RM) 6% 14.08 Bil FY2019 RM13.26 Billion RM RM REPOSITIONED AS A FOOD GROUP Regardless of the challenges posed by the pandemic, we pressed ahead with the Group’s transformation programme. It has taken us two (2) years to shake off historical and legacy issues, but we have finally turned the corner. We still have some way to go, and thus, we need to steer FGV carefully over the next few years to ensure future business performance that is sustainable and financial performance that is positive. With the worst behind us in terms of operational challenges, in 2020 we shifted our emphasis towards growth. We want to build a more resilient FGV, whose performance is not entirely dependent on CPO prices. In our view, being a plantation company focused on the upstream segment has limited upside potential. The Board made a strategic decision that FGV’s journey should be clearer and broader. While palm oil will remain the mainstay of our business, we will also be deliberately and carefully redeploying appropriate resources into higher value and synergistic sectors, to mitigate against CPO price fluctuations. Industry Average CPO Price 2 0 2 0 RM 2,765 zakat workforce revenuee zakat workforce revenuee 30 FGV HOLDINGS BERHAD Annual Integrated Report 2020