[SINGAPORE] Fu Yu Corporation said on Thursday (Mar 20) that it had received a new request from its largest shareholder Victor Lim to table resolutions to oust and appoint directors to the company’s board at its upcoming annual general meeting (AGM).
The component maker said the fresh request came on Mar 11, pursuant to Section 183 of the Companies Act, to table resolutions for the removal and appointment of directors.
Fu Yu said its board is taking legal advice on the validity of Lim’s request under Section 183, and will update its shareholders if there are material developments. It also urged investor caution in dealing with its shares.
Lim, who owned some 29.45 per cent of Fu Yu shares as at Jan 9, had made two previous unsuccessful attempts to requisition extraordinary general meetings (EGMs) on the appointment and removal of directors.
In his first attempt on Jan 9, he said he was requisitioning an EGM because of the company’s poor performance and falling share price. In a letter dated that day, he said that “substantial shareholder value has been erased” since the directors he proposed ousting were elected to the board.
He noted that the company’s share price “dropped steadily” from S$0.33 in 2021 to S$0.13 as at Jan 9, a fall of more than 60 per cent. He added that the company’s performance had “deteriorated”, going from its 2021 booking of a net profit of S$17.6 million to a net loss of S$10.1 million in 2023.
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His Jan 9 letter requisitioning for the first EGM called for five resolutions to be passed. These included removing two independent, non-executive directors, Christopher Huang and Royston Tan, as well as appointing Gilbert Rodrigues, Ralf Pilarczyk and Yang Zhenrong as independent, non-executive directors.
Fu Yu’s board of directors on Jan 31 said the company would not convene the EGM as it had obtained legal advice stating that Lim’s requisition did not meet the legal requirements.
He made another attempt to call for an EGM on Feb 5, also on the grounds of the company’s poor performance. On Feb 26, Fu Yu said it rejected this push for a meeting because it did not meet the necessary requirements; specifically, it said its board had been given legal advice that Lim had failed to serve the required special notice to the two directors he proposed ousting when he made the request for the EGM.
Shares of Fu Yu ended Thursday at S$0.10, up by 2 per cent or S$0.002 before the announcement.
