Jeffrey Minfang Lu, the vice chairman and former CEO of China Mengniu Dairy, has stepped down.
Lu has also resigned from his roles as a member of Mengniu's strategy and development committee and its sustainability committee.
In a stock-exchange filing, Mengniu said Lu wanted to focus on personal commitments and his family.
Lu was CEO of Mengniu from 2016 up until March this year when he was succeeded by company executive Gao Fei.
In the filing, issued yesterday (10 October), Mengniu also announced Wang Xi has been appointed as a non-executive director of the company.
Along with his new appointment, Wang will serve as a member of the company's strategy and development committee.
Wang is not new to Mengniu, having previously served in the same roles for more than two years up until this August.
His experience includes roles within COFCO Corporation, where he is the deputy director of the group's strategy department and the general manager of the direct investment division.
Before his time at COFCO, he gained experience at China Development Bank Capital's Direct Investment Division IV and at Deutsche Bank's investment banking division in the Hong Kong Branch.
COFCO Corporation, through its wholly-owned subsidiaries, holds a significant stake in COFCO Dairy Holdings, which in turn owns 82.16% of COFCO Dairy Investments.
COFCO Dairy Investments has a direct and indirect interest of about 21.5% in Mengniu Dairy's total issued share capital. Additionally, COFCO Corporation has an indirect interest of approximately 2.64% of the total issued share capital.
Revenue was up 6.5% at 98.62bn yuan ($13.96bn). Mengniu said it had expanded its share of China’s liquid milk market, while its chilled yogurt “achieved counter-trend growth”. Liquid milk accounted for more than 82bn yuan of Mengniu’s sales.
Revenue from milk formula, which includes infant formula, dipped 1.3% to 3.81bn yuan. Mengniu said its Bellamy’s brand, acquired in 2019, saw “strong growth in sales”.
Operating profit increased 13.8% to 6.17bn yuan. However, the company’s net profit attributable to owners fell 9.3% to 4.81bn yuan amid higher tax expenses and a fall in net finance income.
