BEIJING, Mar 19, 2009 (MARKET WIRE via COMTEX) -- Agria Corporation (NYSE: GRO) (the "Company" or "Agria"), an
innovative China-based agri-solutions provider, today announced it
has promoted Mr. Raymond Lo, CPA, to the position of acting chief
financial officer, effective April 1, 2009. Mr. Lo has served as
Agria's financial controller since January 2009. He will succeed Mr.
Gary Yeung, who has served as chief financial officer since February
2007 and is resigning to pursue other opportunities. Mr. Yeung will
continue to serve as a director of Agria. Agria also announced today
the resignation of Ms. Juliana Xu, effective March 31, 2009, who
served as chief technology officer of Agria since May 2007. The
company does not consider it necessary to make an immediate
replacement with another chief technology officer. Agria will
continue to maintain its core research and development team, while at
the same time, continuing to enhance collaborations with
institutional technical partners such as the China National
Agricultural Bureau.
Alan Lai, Agria's chairman and chief executive officer, commented,
"We thank Gary for his past contributions and continuing service as a
director of the Company. At the same time, we are pleased to have
Raymond as his successor. Raymond has more than 23 years of finance
experience, ranging from serving as a senior accountant at one of the
world's largest auditing firms to holding various positions as a
financial controller, chief financial officer and consultant. We look
forward to his leadership in the ongoing preparation of our year-end
results and management of our finance department."
Cheuk Kwong (Raymond) Lo, 45 years old, has more than 23 years of
experiences in accounting, consulting and financial reporting in both
listed and non-listed companies in Hong Kong and Singapore. He is a
fellow member of the Hong Kong Institute of Certified Public
Accountants and recognized as a CPA in Australia. Prior to joining
Agria as financial controller in January 2009, Mr. Lo served as a
director and shareholder of Perfect Team Consultants, Ltd. Earlier
in his career he served as the financial controller for Chen Chien
Holdings Ltd., the group chief financial officer at GMT Shipping (HK)
Ltd., the chief officer in the financial and administration division
at Chen Hsong Machinery Co. Ltd.; and an assistant general manager at
Bowden Industries Limited. Mr. Lo has also served as a senior
accountant with Peat Marwick (now KPMG). He received a Bachelor of
Commerce (with Merit) degree in accounting from the University of
Wollongong (Australia) and also a Master degree in Business
Administration (with Credit) from The Hong Kong Polytechnic
University.
About Agria Corporation
Agria Corporation (NYSE: GRO) is an innovative China-based
agri-solutions provider focusing on research and development,
production and distribution of three different types of upstream
agricultural products. Its diversified portfolio of products
comprises corn seeds, sheep breeding and seedlings, including
proprietary products. The Company has access to approximately 27,000
acres of farmland in seven provinces and its extensive distribution
network provides direct or third party distribution in 14 provinces.
For more information about Agria Corporation, please visit
www.agriacorp.com.
Safe Harbor Statement:
This announcement contains forward-looking statements. These
statements are made under the "safe harbor" provisions of the U.S.
Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. These
forward-looking statements can be identified by terminology such as
"will," "expects," "anticipates," "future," "intends," "plans,"
"believes," "estimates," "confident" and similar statements. Agria
may also make written or oral forward-looking statements in its
periodic reports to the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission on
Forms 20-F and 6-K, etc., in its annual report to shareholders, in
press releases and other written materials and in oral statements
made by its officers, directors or employees to third parties.
Statements that are not historical facts, including statements about
Agria's beliefs and expectations, are forward-looking statements.
Forward-looking statements involve inherent risks and uncertainties.
A number of important factors could cause actual results to differ
materially from those contained in any forward-looking statement.
Potential risks and uncertainties include, but are not limited to,
those risks outlined in Agria's filings with the U.S. Securities and
Exchange Commission. All information provided in this press release
is as of the date of this announcement unless otherwise stated, and
Agria does not undertake any obligation to update any forward-looking
statement, except as required under applicable law.
Contacts:
In China:
Matt Feng
Investor Relations
China Tel: 133-1130-0320
matt.feng@agriacorp.com
In the U.S.:
David Pasquale
Senior Vice President
U.S. Tel: +914-337-1117
david.pasquale@agriacorp.com
SOURCE: Agria Corporation
mailto:matt.feng@agriacorp.com
mailto:david.pasquale@agriacorp.com
