Board director parts company with Richina Pacific in leather group row
One of the directors of New Zealand-based Richina Pacific has been voted off the board in a row over the group’s fast growing leather operation, Shanghai Richina Leather.
Ming Lu, who represented 9.6% shareholder JP Morgan, was last week removed from the board amid claims that he was blocking the group's $NZ18.6 million rights issue, which is aimed at raising the capital needed for the upgrade and expansion of the leather operation. (See previous leatherbiz.com story ‘Richina names the day for share issue’, Australasia News, 14.02.03). It is understood that Mr Lu believed the tannery should be expanded by realising other group assets, rather than by a rights issue.
The other main assets of the Richina group are New-Zealand-based Mainzeal Construction and a Chinese aquarium, Blue Zoo Beijing, both of which contributed to group profits last year. However, the performance of both was overshadowed by the leather operation which increasing its revenue to $216 million and contributed $13.1 million (up 386%) to the company’s total operation surplus. The upgrade for which the capital is required will see tannery increase its capacity by three-quarters over the next three years, Richina says.
