Betty Ang, co-founder of Monde Nissin, the Philippines’ largest instant noodle maker, and the company’s president, Hartono Kweefanus, lost their billionaire prestige after a two-day drop in the inventory market that wiped out 24. 4 billion pesos ($436 million) in market position value. The drop was triggered through reports that the company’s flagship brand, Lucky Me!, is facing product recalls in Europe and Taiwan.
Shares of the Philippine-listed company fell more than 9% on Thursday and Friday, the biggest drop in two days since it debuted on the market in June 2021, to close the week at 13. 04 pesos following product reports that were issued after regulators discovered lines of ethylene oxide in Lucky Me! instant noodles. competing brands and products from other corporations such as ice cream, sesame seeds and spices. The Philippine Food and Drug Administration said Thursday it is conducting investigations.
“We would like to make it clear that ethylene oxide is not added to Lucky Me products!” said Monde Nissin in a statement. It is a remedy commonly used in spices and seeds to control the microbial expansion typical of agricultural products. These materials, when processed into condiments and sauces, possibly still show lines of ethylene oxide. Rest assured that all Lucky Me! The products are registered with the Philippine FDA and meet local food protection criteria and even U. S. FDA criteria. U. S. for ethylene oxide.
The successful IPO of Monde Nissin, which raised a billion dollars in June 2021 in the largest inventory sale ever conducted in the country, hit two new billionaires who were on the list of the 50 richest in the Philippines, published in September last year. They were also on Forbes’ list of global billionaires this year, with a fortune of $1. 2 billion. Since then, the percentage value of the company has declined because the increase in the value of raw materials has weighed on profits. Its net profit fell 13. 5% to 2. 1 billion pesos in the first quarter% to 8. 2 trillion pesos in 2021.
As inventory recovers today from last week’s lows, the net worth of Monde Nissin President Betty Ang fell to $982 million, from $1. 2 billion when the Forbes World Billionaires list was published in April. Ang and his defeated father-in-law Hidajat Darmono, whose circle of relatives owns Indonesian biscuit maker Khong Guan, co-founded Monde Nissin in 1979 as a biscuit maker, before turning to instant noodles a decade ago.
The net worth of Ang’s brother-in-law, Hartono Kweefanus, rose from $1. 2 billion to $982 million when Forbes’ list of global billionaires was published in April. Other fortunes related to Nissin World have fallen. CEO Henry Soesanto, who is married to Hartono’s sister Monica Darmono (treasurer of Monde Nissin), fell to $576 million from $795 million when he debuted on the Philippines’ 50 richest list in September.
The wealth of brothers Keng Sun and Peter Mar, grandchildren of Mar Chew, founder of cookie maker M. Y. San, fell to $286 million from $410 million when they debuted on last year’s Philippines list. The Mars acquired shares in Monde Nissin after promoting M. Y. San to the noodle maker in two tranches – 60% in 2001 and the rest in January last year – before the IPO.