Lotte Wellfood said on Thursday it held its ninth annual general meeting of shareholders at the main auditorium on the seventh floor of its headquarters in Yangpyeong-dong, Seoul. Shareholders representing 88.3 percent of the 8,345,123 voting shares attended the meeting.

The meeting appointed CEO-designate Seo Jeong-ho (서정호) as a new inside director. Lotte Wellfood plans to accelerate global market expansion and strengthen business competitiveness with Seo at the centre of the effort.

Lotte Wellfood plans to strengthen its global business capabilities starting with India. It will expand Choco Pie production capacity and focus on stabilising its new Pune plant, which began operating last year.

It will also continue expanding exports to key global regions and raising awareness of the Lotte brand in local markets. The company said it will continue strengthening the competitiveness of its core brands and improving business efficiency to boost overall profitability.

Lotte Wellfood posted consolidated revenue of 4.22 trillion won last year, with operating profit of 109.5 billion won and net profit of 71.4 billion won. All agenda items at the meeting were approved as proposed, including the approval of the balance sheet, income statement and statement of appropriation of retained earnings, amendments to the articles of incorporation and the appointment of directors.

The company said it raised management transparency by deleting a clause excluding cumulative voting through amendments to the articles of incorporation. It said it strengthened legal compliance by reflecting revisions to the Commercial Act. It also approved a capital reduction for the cancellation of treasury shares and resolved to implement its shareholder return policy.