Popular Holdings

[karlmarx]

In a surprise announcement today (7Sep11), Chairman's son Wayne Chou has resigned from his MD and ED positions, and reverted back to become a Non-Executive Director.....
http://info.sgx.com/webcorannc.nsf/Annou...endocument
Of course, it is not easy working for his father. But it will be interesting to find out who actually initiated Wayne Chou's exit.

that's a pretty bad news. i expected the market to have a bigger reaction to it.

who is going to be the next MD? there are only two other non-independent directors on the board. is elder chou unwilling to take a back seat? what is elder chou planning to do with his controlling stake, if not to hand it down to his son?

[dydx]

Popular's improved Q1 (ended 31Jul11) results (announced 9Sep11) makes inteesting reading.....
http://info.sgx.com/webcoranncatth.nsf/V...60033CE8A/$file/PopularHoldingsLimited_1Q2012Results.pdf?openelement

The higher group OP and PBT were mainly due to sale of additional units at 18 Shelford, and expansion of the chain of Popular bookstores - especially in Malaysia and Hong Kong - continued in the latest quarter.

[kazukirai]

So this is what happened...From the article, it seems that the older Mr Chou is quite a force to be reckoned with. I think I wouldn't worry about Popular while it's under his command.

The worry I have would be succession issues- like Buffett and Berkshire, although Buffett seems to be more successful in this regard.

Family drama at Popular bookstore after chairman's son quits (link here)

It was a scene that could have come straight out of a Hong Kong drama serial.

Mr Wayne Chou, the young managing director of Popular Holdings, was having a particularly heated argument with his 74-year-old father Chou Cheng Ngok, who is the chairman of the company.

Suddenly, in front of members of management and staff, the younger Mr Chou shouted 'I quit!' and stormed out of the room.

Soon after, the company issued the official announcement on Sept 7 that has set the normally staid world of book-selling abuzz - that Mr Wayne Chou had left the company. Still, this dramatic fallout at one of Singapore's most well-known chain of bookstores was a long time coming, according to sources The Sunday Times spoke to.

[lonewolf]

I'm not so sure if its a good thing. The elder Chou may be a force to be reckon with but if the company has no self-renewal process, then its still a problem. The article says the people in the elder Chou camp is leaving because of the younger Chou. That's not a problem if the younger Chou camp are capable group of people and not good-for-nothing. I think this sort of 'camps' is probably quite common in the corporate world. I encountered it in my previous work place also when a new chairman came onboard and 'drove' a lot of old-timers 'off'.

Still, I think the younger Chou should not have quit in that manner. It does not speak well of his professionalism and manners. Maybe he must have been pushed to his limits so not up to use to judge. But no one would read the article and be impressed with the way he handled himself.

So overall, I still viewed this as a negative for the company (Vested)

[pianist]

this incident reminds me of the HK drama called 胭脂水粉. a lot of lessons to learnt from there.
at this uncertain time at the Chou's family business, i can say opportunists will appear, whether is for the good or bad reasons, I just wish the family well and all to be good, loving and kind to one another in the end.
i hope the younger chou can learn to be more calm, careful, focused and kind.

[Stocker]

Believe many untold stories between father and son , unless they choose to wash dirty linens in public.

[Bibi]

If the father is really interested in handling over to his young son, he should have remove majority of old senior staff himself and let those under his son be younger staff. Old senior staff who can work under someone younger than him can be kept. My CEO also post senior staff to other department to make way for new capable young people. Those under these young managers are mostly staff younger than the managers.

[VestedInterest]

Yes, sounds to me like an impulsive fella prone to making rash decisions. No one resigns this way unless under severe duress or stress. However, one must take it with a pinch of salt what is reported in the media as it may be an over-dramatisation. This makes for good reading but negative publicity for the company. How much of the company does the son own in terms of shareholdings?

[pianist]

actually compared to Viz Branz's son who is engaged in the lawsuit with his founding father, I think the younger chou seems more filial?

[freedom]

actually compared to Viz Branz's son who is engaged in the lawsuit with his founding father, I think the younger chou seems more filial?

in Viz Branz's case, I believe the son acquired enough shares of the company to remove his father and those following his father as directors of the company.