"The Jardine Matheson Board's recommendation to shareholders is to vote against the proposed resolutions, which are similar to resolutions rejected by shareholders at last year's Annual General Meeting," said Chairman of Jardine Matheson, Mr. Henry Keswick.
In a letter to shareholders sent with the Addendum, Mr. Keswick wrote, "As I said at last year's Annual General Meeting, your Board is firmly committed to the creation of genuine shareholder value. As such, we considered carefully the issues that had been raised. We came to the view then, and continue to believe now, that these proposals would not create medium or long-term shareholder value. This view was endorsed by a decisive majority of shareholders. Our response to these latest resolutions is the same."
"We had a significant increase in recurring earnings per share in 2000, and we expect to see further improvements in 2001. We believe our businesses still offer many opportunities for profitable development, and our ability to deliver growth has been demonstrated by our strong performance. The Company has achieved a compound average growth in shareholder returns in US Dollars of 17% per annum over the past three years*, which is one of the best performances of Asian conglomerates. It has also achieved a compound average growth in net asset value in US Dollars of 18% per annum over the past ten years*, a period which saw a significant financial and currency crisis in Asia," Mr. Keswick noted.
The Annual Report and Addendum to the Notice of Annual General Meeting enclosing Mr. Keswick's letter to shareholders are available on the Company's website, www.jardines.com.
Jardine Matheson is a multinational group of seven core businesses focused primarily on the Asia-Pacific region. Its operations employ some 150,000 people and its activities are leaders in the fields of property, hotels, supermarkets, consumer marketing, engineering and construction, insurance broking and motor trading.