PPB Group / Robert Kuok

[winston]

Robert Kuok Hock Nien's notes on the past sixty years
(On the occasion of Kuok Group's 60th Anniversary 10 April 2009)


(1) My brothers and I owe our upbringing completely to Mother. She was steeped in Ru-Jiao the teachings of Confucius, Mencius, Laozi and other Chinese sages. Ru-Jiao teaches the correct behaviour for a human being on his life on earth. Mother gently, and sometimes strongly, drummed into the minds of her three boys the values of honesty, of never cheating, lying, stealing or envying other people their material wealth or physical attributes.

(2) Father died on 25 December 1948 night without leaving a will. Following the Japanese surrender, he had re-registered the firm as a sole proprietorship. We went to court to get an appointment as managers, permitting us to continue to manage Tong Seng & Co. The judge said that, as there were two widows, the firm and the estate should be wound up.

(3) We decide to establish Kuok Brothers Limited. In mid-January 1949, five of us met at a small roundtable in our home in Johore Bahru. Present were my MOTHER, cousin number five HOCK CHIN, cousin number twelve HOCK SENG, my brother HOCK KHEE nicknamed Philip (a..k.a. cousin number seventeen), and myself (a.k.a. cousin number twenty).

We sat down and Mother said, Nien, would you like to start? I said, Fine, yes I will start. To cut the long story short, we got started, and commenced business from a little shop house in Johore Bharu on 1 April 1949.

(4) As a young man, I thought there was no substitute for hard work and thinking up good, honest business plans and, without respite, pushing them along. There will always be business on earth. Be humble; be straight; don't be crooked; don't take advantage of people.

To be a successful businessman, I think you really need to brush all your senses every morning, just as you brush your teeth. I coined the phrase honing your senses in business: your vision, hearing, sense of smell, touch and taste. All these senses come in very useful.

(5) Mother was the captain of our ship.. She saw and sensed everything, but being a wise person she didn't interfere. Yet she was the background influence, the glue that bound the Group together. She taught my cousins and my brothers and me never to be greedy, and that in making money one could practise high morality.

She stressed that whenever the firm does well it should make donations to the charities operating in our societies. She always kept us focused on the big picture in business. For example: avoid businesses that bring harm, destruction or grief to people. This includes trades like gambling, drugs, arms sales, loan-sharking and prostitution.

(6) We started as little fish swimming in a bathtub. From there we went to a lake and now we are in the open seas.. Today our businesses cover many industries and our operations are worldwide but this would not have been possible without the vision of the founding members, the dedicated contributions and loyalty of our colleagues and employees, and very importantly the strong moral principles espoused by my mother.

(7) When I hire staff, I look for honest, hardworking, intelligent people. When I look candidates in the eye, they must appear very honest to me. I do not look for MBAs or exceptional students. You may hire a brilliant man, summa cum laude, first-class honours, but if his mind is not a fair one or if he has a warped attitude in life, does brilliance really matter?

(8) Among the first employees were Lau Teo Chin (Ee Wor), Kwok Chin Luang (Ee Luang), Othman Samad (Kadir) and an Indian accountant called Joachim who was a devout Roman Catholic and who travelled in every day from Singapore where he lived.

(9) I would like on this special occasion to pay tribute to them and in particular to those who were with us in the early days; many of whom are no longer here. I have already mentioned Lau Teo Chin (Ee Wor) and Kwok Chin Luang (Ee Luang) and Othman Samad (Kadir), there are others like Lean Chye Huat, who is not here today due to failing eyesight, and Yusuf Sharif who passed away in his home country India about one and a half years ago and the late Lee Siew Wah, and others who all gave solid and unstinting support and devotion to the Company.

It saddens me that in those early difficult years these pioneers did not enjoy significant and substantial rewards but such is the order of things and a most unfortunate aspect of capitalism. However through our Group and employee Foundations, today we are able to help their descendants whenever there is a need to.

(10) I have learnt that the success of a company must depend on the unity of all its employees. We are all in the same boat rowing against the current and tide and every able person must pull the oars to move the boat forward. Also, we must relentlessly endeavour to maintain and practise the values of integrity and honesty, and eschew and reject greed and arrogance.

(11) A few words of caution to all businessmen and women. I recall the Chinese saying: shibai nai chenggong zhi mu (failure is the mother of success). But in the last thirty years of my business life, I have come to the conclusion that the reverse phrase is even truer of today's world: chenggong nai shibai zhi mu. Success often breeds failure, because it makes you arrogant, complacent and, therefore, lower your guard.

(12) The way forward for this world is through capitalism. Even China has come to realise it. But it's equally true that capitalism, if allowed to snowball along unchecked, can in many ways become destructive. Capitalism needs to be inspected under a magnifying glass once a day, a super-magnifying glass once a week, and put through the cleaning machine once a month.

In capitalism, man needs elements of ambition and greed to drive him. But where does ambition end and greed take over? That's why I say that capitalism, if left to its own devices, will snowball along, roll down the hill and cause a lot of damage.

So a sound capitalist system requires very strongly led, enlightened, wise governments. That means politician-statesmen willing to sacrifice their lives for the sake of their people. I don't mean politicians who are there for fame, glory and to line their pockets.

(13) To my mind the two great challenges facing China are the restoration of education in morals and the establishment of a rule of law. You must begin from the root up, imbuing and infusing moral lessons and morality into youth, both at home and from kindergarten and primary school upward through university. Every Chinese needs to accept the principle of rule of law; then you have to train upright judges and lawyers to uphold the legal system.

(14) Wealth should be used for two main purposes.

One: for the generation of greater wealth; in other words, you continue to invest, creating prosperity and jobs in the country.

Two: part of your wealth should be applied to the betterment of mankind, either by acts of pure philanthropy or by investment in research and development along the frontiers of science, space, health care and so forth.

[winston]

Kuok Family
Country: Malaysia, Singapore
Business: Kuok Group
Estimated net worth: $16.1 billion

The Kuok family is the richest family in Southeast Asia, and owners of the Kuok Group — one of Asia’s most diversified firms with interests in agriculture, real estate, and financial services, to name a few.

The Malaysian group was founded in 1949 by the three Kuok brothers, the youngest of whom is Robert Kuok (pictured), now 88.

Starting out in agricultural trading, the group expanded to Singapore in 1952, and then went on to open operations in Thailand, Indonesia, Hong Kong and China.

Robert’s son Khoon Chen, 57, is the executive director of Kuok Group and its subsidiary Kerry Properties, Hong Kong’s largest property development firm.

His younger son Khoon Ean, 56, is the chairman of hotel chain Shangri-La Asia. However, the family’s biggest source of wealth comes from its majority stake in Wilmar International, the world’s largest publicly-listed palm oil company.

Robert’s 61-year-old nephew Khoon Hong is the chairman of Wilmar International.

Source: CNBC

[behappyalways]

came across this old article


Robert Kuok’s children seen battling for HK$300 billion fortune
http://www.theedgemalaysia.com/highligh ... rtune.html

[winston]

Robert Kuok Interview (with English subtitle)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8nGcqaCQbPk

[winston]

PPB weighs options on cash, may raise stake in Wilmar

BY DANIEL KHOO

Source: The Star

http://www.thestar.com.my/business/busi ... s-on-cash/

[winston]

not vested

PPB Group advises caution after Wilmar warning

BY JOSEPH CHIN

Wilmar's profit warning will have an impact on PPB Group

KUALA LUMPUR: PPB Group Bhd expects Wilmar International Ltd's weaker financial performance to adversely impact its financial results and advised shareholders and investors to be cautious.

The plantations,flour milling and property company said on Wednesday while its share of its 18.55%-associate Wilmar results has yet to be determined, “it is expected that this would have an adverse impact on the financial results of the PPB Group for Q2, 2016”.

“Details of the PPB Group’s financial performance for Q2, 2016 and H1, 2016 will be disclosed when PPB announces its consolidated financial results for the respective periods,” it said.

“Shareholders and investors are advised to exercise caution when dealing in the shares of the company,” it said.

Wilmar announced on Tuesday to the Singapore Exchange that it is expected to report net losses of approximately US$230mi for Q2, 2016 as a result of challenging operating conditions in 2Q2016, which were flagged in the prospects statement in the company's results announcement for Q1 ended March 31, 2016.

Wilmar also said for the H1, 2016, the group was still expected to be profitable, although profit is expected to be significantly lower than the corresponding six months period ended 30 June 2015.

The Q2, 2016 losses were largely attributed to the manufacturing sub-segment within oilseeds and grains and partially to the sugar segment, whilst the tropical oils segment and consumer products subsegment continued to perform satisfactorily.

“The long term prospects of the group are stronger as it continues to execute on its stated growth strategy, demonstrated by recent developments in ventures in Vietnam and India.

Barring unforeseen circumstances, operating environment for the group for the rest of the year is expected to normalise,” Wilmar said.

Source: The Star

[winston]

Wilmar’s ‘short-term’ one-off loss, PPB confident of future

BY P. ARUNA

PPB posted a net loss of RM78.7mil in its second quarter ended June 30, on the back of RM1.06bil in revenue, weighed down by the losses incurred by Wilmar.

For the first half, the group’s share of Wilmar’s profit was significantly lower at RM11mil, from RM294mil during the same period last year.

Wilmar has contributed between 60% to 70% of PPB Group’s profits over the years.

Source: The Star

http://www.thestar.com.my/business/busi ... term-loss/

[winston]

ROBERT KUOK
Flagship: PPB Group Bhd/Kerry Group
Net worth: RM37bil

KUOK is often mistaken for a “Tan Sri” or “Tun”. But the 94-year-old tycoon, who was born in Johor but is based in Hong Kong, is neither.

Those close to him say that he politely declines any honorific titles because he wants to be known distinctly as an international businessman and not someone who is associated with any particular country or political leader.

Kuok’s flagship company in Malaysia is PPB Group that is into plantations and the processing and distribution of flour and bread. It also owns the chain of cinemas under Golden Screen Cinemas Sdn Bhd (GSC).

Outside of Malaysia, his companies come under the Kerry Group that is based in Hong Kong. The Kerry Group controls Shangri-La Asia Ltd that owns and operates the famous hotel chain. It also is a major shareholder in Kerry Properties and Kerry Logistics.

Through an intricate web of shareholdings, Kuok controls Wilmar International Ltd, the world’s most valuable listed plantation company that is based in Singapore and managed by his 67-year-old nephew, Kuok Khoon Hong.

With a market capitalisation of almost S$23bil as of the end of last year, Wilmar is more than a plantation player. It has its hands in the trading and production of a variety of edible commodities such as sugar and palm oil.

Kuok’s interest in Wilmar is held through PPB Group and Kerry Group of Hong Kong and collectively amounts to 28.3% of the company.

At one time, Kuok was said to be in control of 10% of the global sugar production, something that earned him the title “Sugar King”.

In Malaysia, Kuok disposed of his sugar business to the Federal Land Development Authority or Felda in 2009 and went on to control the raw sugar supply in Australia.

As in previous years, the Kuok group was quiet on the corporate front last year.

The most notable deal in recent times was the sale of the South China Morning Post to China’s e-commerce giant, Alibaba Group, for HK$2.06bil, a transaction announced in December 2015.

Last year, there were reports of the PPB Group putting up GSC for sale, with the valuation being bandied about at US$500mil.

Source: The Star

[behappyalways]

Malaysian tycoon Robert Kuok: “Crooks” among Chinese entrepreneurs have devastated parts of Southeast Asia
https://mothership.sg/2017/11/robert-ku ... east-asia/