Far Eastern Textile Limited (FETL) held its 2009 extraordinary shareholders’ meeting at the Taipei Hero House on 13 October, and Chairman Douglas Tong Hsu presided the meeting. Shareholders presented resolved to rename the company as “Far Eastern New Century Corporation (FENC)”, and accordingly, approved amendments of the company’s Articles of Incorporation.
Since its inception in Taiwan sixty years ago, the company has evolved beyond its traditional textile production business, and successfully developed itself into a sizable entity, controlling material interests in polyesters, valuable real estate, and an equity portfolio consistently generating satisfactory return. During the shareholders’ meeting, Chairman Hsu, with a great pride, elaborated the purpose of the resolution to rename the company, “We foresee a new corporate image is rising from the horizon. Only with a new name can the company’s existing business scope and structure be properly represented. A new name also serves the purpose to demonstrate our ambition to elevate the company’s value, which shall be achieved via re-allocating company’s resources based on our new vision and new strategic considerations.” The operating results and prospects of each business were then described and explained by the management team, promising shareholders a bright prospect likely to materialize in the near future.
The company’s competence in polyester industry is unrivalled by its peers. It has been well perceived as the leading company in this industry in terms of production scale, brand name, and technological innovation. The company has already achieved vertical integration at its production process, both in Taiwan and China. The upstream chemical material, PTA (pure terephthalic acid), is self-sufficient for the production of polyester polymers, using for purposes of bottling, packaging, industrial fibers, and varieties of value-added applications, offering customers a comprehensive product family with premium quality. Chairman Hsu declared the company “will accelerate growth through internal expansions, technology innovations, as well as mergers and acquisitions.” In witness of the global trend of saving the earth and reducing carbon dioxide emission, “the company has decided to scale up its production of recyclable and/or bio-degradable products”, said Chairman Hsu. These innovative products are to include recycled chips, recycled fibers, PET-made beer bottles, corn-made fibers (PLA). The company also dedicates a team focusing on the upgrade of facilities in order to reduce the energy consumed in the production process.
A substantial land holding is being under development, increasing return on the company’s assets. Most of the company’s real estate holdings, including raw lands with a total size of 475,000 pings, locate in the northern part of Taiwan, where has the highest density of population and business activities. The first project, Taipei Far Eastern Telecom Park (T park), with a size of 76,000 pings at the outskirt of the Taipei City, is under construction, and infrastructures and public amenities are about to be completed. The first office building is scheduled to open in the second quarter of 2010, with marketing and promotion activities associated already being launched. The launch of California Dreaming, the first residential product annex to T park, was a great success, thanks to the convenient location right at the MRT station, the modern architecture design by international top-notch designers, the solid construction supervised by Far Eastern Group. In addition, the company’s development plan at its Ilan site, with a land size of 32,000 pings, has been approved by the Ministry of the Interior in September 2009. Chairman Hsu said with confidence in the meeting “We believe we have the best property team, whose expertise in urban planning, marketing, and construction will raise the value of our property in a significant way.”
Profit contribution from core investment holdings is substantial. Being the first-established flagship company in the Far Eastern Group, the company has begun, since 1950s, investing in several high-return businesses, including telecommunications, cement, retail and others. To name the publicly listed ones, this equity portfolio comprises more than 40% stakes in Far EasTone, and about 20% in Asia Cement, Far Eastern Department Stores and Oriental Union Chemical, respectively. Each subsidiary in the Group has its own independent management team, constructed according to talents and experiences each business desires. The results demonstrated by each team have been outstanding, no matter how volatile the market and how competitive the business environment, well receiving recognition from local and international institutional investors.
This is the company’s 60th anniversary. A new company name declared at this moment, according to Chairman Hsu, indicates a milestone of significant consequence in the company’s history. He assured “the management team is inspired by the new name to aim higher, delivering better results for shareholders by leveraging on the company’s ample resources.” Furthermore, Chairman Hsu announced the new mission of the company: “Having Innovative thinking, superior technology, and excellent managerial skills, we aim to lead the polyester industry and maximize the value of our holdings in estates and equities, and that shall bring happiness and prosperity to the community where we ourselves belong to.” In this fast-changing world, a mission as such “will be in the best interests of our shareholders, employees, suppliers, customers, and the society” said Chairman Hsu.
Chairman Hsu also urged all employees to persevere the company’s great tradition, its founding spirit “Sincerity, Diligence, Thrift, Prudence” and “Innovation”, to ensure customers be better served and shareholders more rewarded in the new era.
