A NEW chairman has been appointed to the Interflour Group board, following the retirement of long-serving member Imre Mencshelyi late last year.
Luke Bugeja, who is based in Singapore and holds an MBA from Deakin University in Melbourne, was announced as the new chairman by CBH.
Interflour is a joint venture between CBH and Origold, with both parties each holding a 50 per cent interest in the group.
Mr Bugeja is an operating partner at Hermes GPE and serves as a non-executive director on a number of portfolio companies.
He has also held investment and operational roles spanning both investment management in infrastructure and aviation over the past 31 years including roles with Qantas Airways, Virgin Blue, Macquarie Bank, Ontario Airports Investments and Changi Airport Group.
"I look forward to working with the Interflour Group Board and management as we continue implementing our strategy to generate greater value for our shareholders," Mr Bugeja said.
Mr Mencshelyi was appointed chairman of the Interflour Group board when it was formed in 2005 and he retired in December 2019.
Under his chairmanship, the Interflour Group went from a total daily milling capacity of 4200 tonnes per day across six flour mills to a group that now has milling capacity of 7410t per day across 10 mills.
It has the biggest dedicated grain terminal in south Vietnam as well as a malt plant with a daily malting capacity of 360t per day.
CBH chairman Wally Newman thanked Mr Mencshelyi for his service and leadership during his 14 years at Interflour.
"Since Interflour was established in 2005, the business has grown significantly, diversified into malt production with the launch of Intermalt in Vietnam and extended its service and product offerings for customers," Mr Newman said.
"Imre's leadership assisted the Interflour management team during the early period of change as well as in responding to the more recent heightening of competitive pressures in flour milling in Asia.
"While Interflour continues to operate in a highly competitive environment, efficiency and sales initiatives have resulted in improved performance, particularly from the core South East Asian flour business as well as at their Vietnamese port asset and the Intermalt facility."
