Paul Loo Has No Plans to Go Public

Life is more than just a box of chocolates for Paul Loo, group chief executive officer of Focus Network Agencies (FNA). Chocolates have made him and wife Esther Tang a very wealthy couple. Having taken over a business shuttered by DFS Group (formerly Duty Free Shoppers) in 1991, they are regional leading dealers in confectionery today, with annual turnover exceeding $200 million in the past two years.

But making money from selling chocolates was far from Loo’s mind when he started his career more than 30 years ago as a civil engineer, building tunnels and roads, including the first Mass Rapid Transit system in Singapore. Then, in 1987, when more than a half dozen stockbroking firms had closed down and scores of brokers had quit the industry in the aftermath of the Pan-Electric Industries debacle, which saw the listed mini-conglomerate go belly up, he made the unconventional decision to join stockbroking firm Vickers Ballas as a broker.

“The property sector was then in a downturn and I thought the broking industry offered better opportunities. Moreover, I could always return to my engineering life,” he says of his change in careers. “I believe in taking advantage of every opportunity that comes my way,” he adds, repeating the mantra of almost every entrepreneur.

Four years later, the opportunity that would change his life struck. The DFS Group closed its confectionery division, then headed by his wife, as it was too small to warrant much of DFS’ time and resources. Tang, after consulting her husband, offered to take over the business. It then had an annual turnover of around $3 million and a staff of five.

“After going though its businesses and working out the figures, I thought it was still a viable trade that would not demand too much resources. DFS also gave us all its stock,” says Loo.

Focus Network Agencies was thus born. Two of the four agencies in the stable had little faith in the fledgling company and immediately pulled away, leaving only Droste and Hawaiian Host, with a turnover of barely $1 million. Loo left Vickers in 1994 to concentrate on FNA full time. The group has come a long way since then. Today, it offers over 80 confectionery brands from about 30 manufacturers, including names like M&M’s, Ferrero Rocher, Kagi, Kit Kat, Toblerone and Neuhaus, in 16 countries. It has its own retail presence in six territories: China, Malaysia, Hong Kong, Taiwan, India and Singapore.

The journey to success, however, was an uneasy one, involving the buy-ins and cash-outs of, first, Europe-based investment entity Artal Group, then Swensen’s owner ABR Holdings. What’s important is this: When the latter parted ways with FNA just over a year ago, in 2012, listed ABR Holdings reported a gain of $82.1 million on an investment of less than $20 million. FNA currently has listed developer Ho Bee as a 40 per cent shareholder.

On taking the company public, Loo says: “I have no interest at all. You do that only if you want to cash out or are in need of funds. We are almost debt-free and have no need of funding at present. Being private allows you greater freedom in deciding what you want to do and avoids the restrictions of being accountable to others.”

He also does not believe in franchising his brand. “I don’t believe in taking money up front, well before the franchisee makes even a cent,” he says. FNA does, however, help its clients design their premises and even funds their renovations. “In most cases, much of the funding comes from the agencies.”

Through the years, his efforts and entrepreneurship have not gone unnoticed. He and his companies, including retail arm The Cocoa Trees, have won a plethora of awards, culminating with him being named EY Entrepreneur of the Year 2013.

He will be Singapore’s representative at the EY World Entrepreneur of the Year to be held in Monte Carlo, Monaco in June. “I hope to emulate Olivia Lum, the only Singaporean so far to receive the award, and do my country proud,” Loo says.

On naming the 57-year-old as the award recipient, Wong Ngit Liong, chairman of the judging panel here – himself a leading entrepreneur, and chairman and CEO of listed Venture Corporation – sums it up: “In spotting the opportunity to venture into confectionery distribution with the closure of a third party’s business, Paul epitomises the entrepreneurial qualities of being a visionary and risk-taker.

“For over 20 years, he has sustained a steady growth path for Focus Network Agencies through various crises with tenacity, clear strategic direction and innovation, including establishing his own retail brand, The Cocoa Trees, in the year 2000, to complement his core distribution business.

“His strong business stewardship, coupled with a high regard for his people through good and bad times, sets Paul apart from his peers.”

Loo is proud that throughout his more than two decades in business, he has not laid off a single employee, and has docked pay only once, in the middle of the financial crisis in 1997. “That was the only year we were in the red,” he discloses. “I owe my success to the contribution of my loyal brand partners, customers and especially my staff. They are my winning team.”

But he is far from resting on his laurels. “I often set five-year plans for my business but often achieve my targets within three years.” He is always busy with expansion plans, both here and overseas, especially of The Cocoa Trees, of which there are 70 outlets at present.

“Last year, we discovered that an outlet at the Shenzhen airport was using the name and we pursued legal action,” Loo reveals with some pride. “The Taiwanese owner quickly removed the name and complied with our call. I guess the Chinese authorities did not want to tarnish the reputation of its international airports with fakes. It would have been more difficult if the outlet had been in the cities.” If imitation is the highest form of flattery, then The Cocoa Trees – and the man who wants it to be his legacy brand – has arrived.