April 13, 2012

China Mengniu Dairy names new CEO

China Mengniu Dairy Co Ltd, the country's largest dairy producer that has been involved in scandals of tainted milk, has appointed its new chief executive officer with effect from Thursday (Apr 20), it said in a statement.

Sun Yiping will take over as CEO from Yang Wenjun, who will step down after leading the company for two consecutive terms since 2006, Mengniu said in the statement on the Hong Kong stock exchange. Yang will remain as a vice chairman on the board.

According to Mengniu's company policy, any CEO can only have a term limit of two terms, it said.

Sun, who was an executive director of Mengniu, is a veteran in the food and beverage industry who has worked at China's state-owned COFCO Group and was involved in COFCO's investment in Coca-Cola's bottling business.

Last March, Mengniu posted a 28% rise in 2011 net profit to RMB1.59 billion (US$252 million) even though it was hit by a series of scandals that marred the reputation of China's dairy industry.

The announcement of the CEO change came after Hong Kong's markets were closed. Mengiu's shares ended flat, underperforming the main Hang Seng Index's 0.93% rise.