SCHIPHOL AIRPORT, Netherlands, July 20, 2005 (PRIMEZONE) -- Royal Numico N.V. announces that Peter Kroes and Johnny Widjaja have decided to resign from their positions as President and Vice-President of the Board of Commissioners of PT Sari Husada Tbk, of which Numico is the majority shareholder.
An Extraordinary General Meeting of Shareholders of Sari Husada will be called shortly, to propose the appointment of Mr Gerrit Keyaerts, a Numico executive, as the new President Commissioner. The joint decision of Mr. Kroes and Mr. Widjaja to resign was taken in the belief that their resignations serve the best interests and continuing success of Sari Husada. Mr. Widjaja (71) has devoted the last 33 years to building Sari Husada into a strong and vibrant business, and Indonesia's leading baby food company. Mr. Kroes (63) has served on the Board of Commissioners, on Numico's behalf, since 1998. He was previously employed by Numico, where he played an important role in the successful expansion of its Asia-Pacific business.
The incoming President Commissioner Mr. Keyaerts was first elected as Commissioner of Sari Husada at the General Meeting of Shareholders in May 2004. He is of Belgian nationality, and serves presently as Senior Vice President, Corporate Controlling at Numico.
At the Extraordinary General Meeting of Shareholders, Mr. Niraj Mehra (51) will be proposed as a new member of the Sari Husada Board of Commissioners. Mr. Mehra is President Operations at Numico and a member of the Executive Board. These appointments are part of the changes to the composition of the Board of Commissioners of Sari Husada, begun in May 2004. Subject to shareholder approval, all the Commissioners will have been newly elected since that time.
Important management changes have also been taking place at Sari Husada.
Mr. Budi Isman was appointed CEO at the Annual General Meeting of Shareholders in May 2005. To strengthen his management team, Mr. Alain Comel will now join Sari Husada and its Board of Directors as Chief Financial Officer. Mr. Comel (48), of French nationality, is currently Vice President Finance and Business Development for Numico's Clinical Nutrition division. This executive appointment at Sari Husada is also subject to shareholder approval.
The Sari Husada Board of Commissioners has also announced measures to bring Sari Husada further in line with both the Dutch and the Indonesian corporate governance codes, in a process to be completed by 1 October 2005.
Jan Bennink, CEO of Numico, commented: "As the majority shareholder, Numico is very supportive of the changes being proposed by the Board of Commissioners and CEO Budi Isman to strengthen the overall management team and enhance good governance at Sari Husada. I look forward to the continued success of this exceptional and fast-growing company, as they take the potential of their business to the next level."
Royal Numico is a high-growth, high-margin specialised nutrition company with leading positions in Baby Food and Clinical Nutrition and brings products to the market under the brand names Nutricia, Milupa and Cow & Gate, among others. The company serves customers in over 100 countries and employs approximately 11,000 people (see also: www.numico.com).
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