From part time job to Natural Dairy director

A new director's only business experience was at McDonald's. Photo / Brett Phibbs

The Chinese-owned company hoping to buy the Crafar farms has had yet another management shake-up - its fourth in just one year.

And the company has admitted the only practical business experience of one of its new directors is a part-time job at McDonald's.

Natural Dairy informed the Hong Kong Stock Exchange this week that its chairman, Singaporean investment banker Yip Kean Mun, had quit because of health reasons and other business commitments.

He has been replaced by a 27-year-old lawyer, Wu Neng Kun, who is the nephew of Auckland businessman Jack Chen. Chen has previously told the Herald he was the "driving force" behind the Natural Dairy bid for the Crafar farms, but has since proved elusive. His nephew has until now been running a Chen family food business that was bought by Natural Dairy this year.

Another director has also quit for health reasons and has been replaced by two new directors, one of whom is a 26-year-old who cites his only business experience as three years as a part-time store manager at a British branch of McDonald's.

The company notes he has a management degree from Southampton University and a master's degree from Lancaster University.

Neither director has any previous experience as a director of a listed company in the past three years.

Meanwhile, Natural Dairy has admitted breaching Hong Kong Stock Exchange rules by failing to announce its annual results on time.

It was supposed to announce its results this week.

It has blamed the delay on its "overseas subsidiaries" for failing to provide it with "certain information", but is promising to release the information next week.

The company has also told shareholders they will have to keep waiting for more information about its plans in New Zealand.

In March, it stunned the dairy industry by announcing plans to spend up to $1.5 billion setting up a dairy business in New Zealand. It has scaled back those plans, but details have not yet been forthcoming.

The company is now promising to outline its plans to investors by June next year, but has warned them these "may or may not" go ahead.

The company has always made it clear there were conditions attached to the deal, including the approval of the Overseas Investment Office.

Natural Dairy spokesman Bill Ralston said yesterday it was expecting a decision from the OIO before December. He was unaware of the reasons for the delay in producing the company's annual results.