FB Roundup: New World Group, Heineken, and Euronext Family Business Index
New World's Adrian Cheng climbs succession ladder
Third-generation family member Adrian Cheng, 36, has been promoted to executive vice-chairman and general manager of New World Group – a possible signal of future succession plans.
The timing of the announcement was downplayed as a coincidence by Cheng who for the first time presented the six monthly results for the Hong Kong-based property behemoth.
New World Group reported revenues for the six months to 31 December of HKD26.6 billion ($3.4 billion).
Cheng's helming of the results announcement comes after his father Henry Cheng suffered a reported stroke in January.
Cheng, like his sister, was educated at Harvard, graduating with an arts degree. They both featured in CampdenFB's Top 60 Family Business Leaders for 2014.
Heineken results bolstered by Brexit
Netherlands-based brewer Heineken, controlled by the eponymous family, will enjoy short-term benefits from Brexit, according trade marketing manager Paul Gordon.
“Bizarrely what we have seen since is actually a pretty good set of results. We are seeing inflation staying quite low and production and manufacturing going up to the highest number in 17 years. We have seen unemployment go down and retail value go up,” he explained.
'Those are the positives of the challenges that are coming out of the on-trade at the moment and it is our job as a supplier to give our customers and their consumers the best value possible,” he added.
The fourth generation of the Heineken family hold a 45.8% share in the business.
The Amsterdam-headquartered company employs more than 73,000 staff, and was ranked 459th on the 2016 Fortune Global 500 with 2015 revenues of €20.5 million ($22.8 million), up 6.5% on 2014.
Euronext launches family business index
Close to 100 European families have been included in a new index dedicated to family businesses, including the 313-year-old Wendel Group.
The Euronext Family Business index includes 90 listed companies from across the four markets it covers: the Netherlands, France, Belgium, and Portugal.
The new index is part of an initiatives to provide additional support and promote financial markets as a source of financing.
Campden Research will soon publish a new report on the same topic, titled Financing for Growth.
Euronext currently has 216 family businesses listed on its markets, together representing market capitalisation of €852 billion ($897 billion).
This includes 157 small and mid-size companies whose total market capitalisation comes to €31 billion.
