Chairman's Statement
Extracted from Annual Report 2007
Dear Stakeholders,
Following the retirement of our founder and former Executive Chairman, Mr Lee Lok Fui, the Board of Directors on the recommendations of its Nominating Committee, has appointed me as the Executive Chairperson on 17 March 2008. I am honoured to accept this challenge and look forward to your continuing support and guidance.
The challenge in the years ahead is to build a number of growth engines based on proven technologies, manufacturing excellence, strong supply chain management and our worldwide network of marketing and sales ofices as well as associates. Measures have been and will be taken to strengthen the product slate as well as the management pool, particularly at the operating level.
In this respect, I am pleased to welcome our new President and CEO, Mr Cheang Chee Ming, who was appointed in November 2007. Mr Cheang has more than 22 years of top management experience in the electronics and telecommunications industries, and is the ideal person to drive the company's new growth initiatives.
The financial year ended 31 December 2007 ("FY2007") was significant for Jurong Technologies as we embarked on a strategic shift to transform the company from a pure electronics manufacturing services ("EMS") provider to a one-stop solutions provider with EMS and original design & manufacturing ("ODM") capabilities spread over a global manufacturing footprint.
The Group has achieved some degree of success in developing new revenue streams, breaking into new geographical markets, and acquiring new technological capabilities in FY2007. However, our growth plans were affected by a significant and sudden drop in orders from our customers as they faced challenges in maintaining their market share within the competitive handset industry.
This resulted in a decline in our revenue from S$1,265.6 million in FY2006 to S$969.3 million in FY2007. Consequently, the Group's net profit attributable to shareholders declined to S$30.0 million In FY2007 from S$70.4 million in FY2006.
Despite these challenges, we are still committed to the wireless communications sector and believe that the long-term outlook for the sector remains positive. We have embarked on a strategic review of the Group's operations to develop a more diversified and quality earnings base, strengthen our balance sheet and achieve greater operational efficiency. We believed that these efforts will place us in a firmer footing, enabling us to take full advantage once the global markets resume growth.
Rewarding shareholders
Despite the weaker financial performance, we maintained our commitment to reward shareholders for their support. The Board of Directors has proposed a final dividend of 1.0 cent per ordinary share, bringing total dividend declared for FY2007 to 2.0 cents per ordinary share, representing 30.0% of total FY2007 earnings.
In Appreciation
The Board would like to take this opportunity to express our heartfelt appreciation and gratitude to our founder and former Executive Chairman, Mr Lee Lok Fui, who has played an instrumental role in the growth of this company. We wish him all the best in his retirement. To all our staff and vendors we thank them for their hard work and passion. To our customers, we pledge the highest quality, the best price for value and prompt service. We tmst out Shareholders will continue to support us.
Ms Joyce Lin Li Fang
Executive Chairperson