‘Lotte Chemical to be Reborn as More Competitive Company by Exploring

Lotte Chemical President & CEO Kim Gyo-hyun.

President Hwang Jin-gun, head of Lotte Chemical’s Basic Material Business and Prof. Nam Hae-jung, of Dongkuk University Accounting Department, were elected as new inside and outside director, respectively, during a recent meeting of shareholders.

Lotte Chemical President & CEO Kim Gyo-hyun said, “The year 2021 is the first year in which Lotte Chemical will undergo changes to prepare for a new future, and we will be reborn with a more competitive company by establishing a companywide ESG operation regime and exploring new business opportunities.”

He made the remarks at the 45th regular shareholders’ meeting at the Lotte World Tower in Seoul on March 23.

President Hwang Jin-gun, who was appointed as head of Lotte Chemical’s Basic Material Business in a reshuffle of Lotte Group executives last December, was elected as a new inside director during the shareholders’ meeting, while Prof. Nam Hae-jung of Dongkuk University Accounting Department was elected as a new outside director.

Lee Hoon-ki, head of Lotte Holdings’ Management Innovation Office, was elected as a non-standing managing director. He also once served as CEO of Lotte Rental and head of Lotte Chemical’s planning division.

The new appointees bring to 11 the total number of directors sitting on Lotte Chemical’s Board of Directors. An audit committee, a management transparency committee, an outside director candidate recommendation committee and a compensation committee are installed under the control of the board.

Electronic voting was introduced during the shareholder meeting to ramp up shareholders’ rights and convenience, and a cash dividend of 3,600 won per common share was approved.

Aggregate dividends amounted to some 123.4 billion won, and the move was designed to put into practice efforts to make good on its promise to enhance shareholders’ values and their rights.

Meanwhile, Lotte Chemical introduced “Green Promise 2030 Initiative” to expand sustainable growth and eco-friendly business in February.

Under the initiative, Lotte Chemical set four core tasks – expanding eco-friendly business, augmenting a virtuous cycle of resources, responding to climate change and building a green ecosystem.

Lotte Chemical aims to raise sales in the eco-friendly business to 6 trillion won, expand recycling materials to 1 million tons, and achieve growth strategies based on carbon neutrality.

Lotte Chemical President & CEO Kim Gyo-hyun speaks at the 45th regular shareholders’ meeting at Lotte World Tower in Jamsil, Seoul, on March 23. (Photos: Lotte Chemical)

Lotte Chemical Issues Chemical Innovation Fund No. 2 to Expand Global Investments to Startups

Lotte Chemical raised 13 billion won for the Lotte Chemical Innovation Fund No. 2 in cooperation with Lotte Fine Chemical and Lotte Accelerator.

Lotte Chemical, Lotte Fine Chemical and Lotte Accelerator each contributed 9.9 billion won, 2.97 trillion won and 130 million won.

The fund will enable the companies to forge strategic partnerships through investment into companies with promising future technologies by considering connectivity and suitability in conjunction of eco-friendliness goals of Green Promise 2030 Initiative and implementation tasks.

Lotte Chemical raised 5 billion won in the Lotte Chemical Innovation Fund No. 1 with Lotte Accelerator in December 2019 with the goal of exploring startups in the new chemical materials and eco-friendly sectors.

With the fund, Lotte Chemical invested into six startups, including Chemiko and BlueBank. Chemiko and BlueBank each boast of technologies related to high-powered polypropylene forming seat and mass-producing functional microorganisms for water treatment. Lotte Chemical is considering collaboration for synergetic effects with the startups.

The Chemical Innovation Fund No. 2 will be expanded to cover not only the existing basic material and eco-friendly sectors but also the bio-health field.

The first fund focused on Korean startups, but the second fund will be expanded to cover foreign startups. The size of investments per company will be also expanded.

Lotte Chemical President & CEO Kim, doubling as head of Lotte Group’s Chemical Business Unit, said, “This year will be a first year of ESG management, and capabilities related to specialty materials in diverse sectors will be expanded on top of the expanding of the eco-friendly businesses.”

Lotte Chemical plans to raise the aggregate money of the Innovation Fund to 100 billion won long-term, to lend its weight to the growth of startups and conduct synergetic collaboration with them, he added.