Mr. Mowlem joined Dairy Farm as Finance Director, North Asia, in January 2000. He has also served as chief executive of OneResource Group, a Dairy Farm joint venture that provides finance, accounting and non-trade procurement services to Dairy Farm's Hong Kong retail businesses.
Announcing the appointment, Dairy Farm Group Chief Executive Ronald J. Floto said, "Howard is well qualified to help us continue the turnaround of Dairy Farm and I am delighted to be able to make an internal appointment."
Mr. Durant is returning to the U.K. to rejoin his family after 12 years in Asia with Dairy Farm and the Jardine Matheson Group.
Mr. Floto said "We wish Ian every success for the future and thank him for the significant contribution he has made to Dairy Farm's repositioning. His financial and strategic leadership has been an essential ingredient in reshaping Dairy Farm as the leading panAsian retailer."
"I am sad to be leaving the Group later this year," Mr. Durant said, "but the timing is right with much of the restructuring behind us. Dairy Farm is emerging as a smaller, but stronger group, and is well positioned to capitalize on opportunities in its markets in Asia."
- more -
Page 2
Mr. Mowlem joined Dairy Farm from Australian retailer Coles Myer, where he had worked for 12 years holding a number of senior positions in Treasury, Group Finance and Planning before being appointed General Manager, Finance and Administration for the 400-store Coles Supermarkets chain. Prior to that he held finance positions in the mining and shipping industries, including four years based in Tokyo.
Mr. Mowlem is an economics graduate of Monash University, and holds an MBA. He is a Fellow of the Australian Society of CPAs, and an Associate of both the Securities Institute of Australia and the Finance and Treasury Association.
Dairy Farm is a leading food and drugstore retailer in the Asia-Pacific Region. At 31st December 2000, the Group and its associates operated over 2,200 outlets, principally
supermarkets, hypermarkets, convenience stores and drugstores, employed some 79,000 people in nine territories and had sales of US$6.6 billion in 2000.