2021: A year of big changes

Ms Ho Ching, wife of Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong, quit as chief executive officer (CEO) of Singapore's investment company on Oct 1 after 17 years at the helm.

Succeeding her was Mr Dilhan Pillay Sandrasegara, a 57-year-old lawyer who joined Temasek 10 years ago. He now holds a dual role as CEO of Temasek and its commercial arm Temasek International.

Temasek has said that Ms Ho, 68, would be appointed to Temasek Trust's board and will take over as chairman, succeeding Mr S. Dhanabalan, on April 1 next year.

Mr Dhanabalan, formerly trade and industry minister, will remain on the board as chairman emeritus.

Mr Pillay indicated on Feb 9 that Temasek's focus and biggest consideration would be climate change, which he said is affecting businesses "in every sector, in every part of the world".

"We have to think what that means for the various geographies that we're operating in," he said.

Mr Yuen Kuan Moon, 54, took over the reins at the telco from Ms Chua Sock Koong, 63, on Jan 1.

Mr Yuen - who was CEO of Singtel's Singapore consumer business and the chief digital officer - has launched a "strategic reset" to capture growth in the 5G era, sharpen the group's focus and improve shareholder value.

The leadership change was announced on Oct 1 last year, with the telco stating that Ms Chua, who had held the post since April 2007, was retiring after 31 years with the company.

Singtel shares have traded in a range of $2.21 to $2.63 since Mr Yuen's appointment, higher than a five-year low of $2 recorded on Oct 30 and Nov 2 last year. They closed flat at $2.32 on Thursday.

Jan 1 was also the first day as CEO for Mr Nikhil Eapen, 49, former deputy CEO of StarHub's parent company ST Telemedia. He replaced Mr Peter Kaliaropoulos, 62, who stepped down on Oct 31 last year in the wake of a family member's serious health problems.

Mr Eapen told the annual general meeting in April that StarHub expects improvements in its mobile business, especially as 5G products and services come on stream.

In the meantime, it will double down on its ongoing transformation strategy and eye inorganic enterprise business expansion.

Mr Eapen indicated in September his plans for mergers and acquisitions. "We want to bolster the cyber business, we want to bolster the ICT (information and communications technology) business. We want to make them both more 'cloudy' so there's an element of scale, footprint, but also capability."

StarHub shares are up 2.3 per cent this year, closing at $1.34 on Thursday.

Ms Helen Wong, former CEO of HSBC in Greater China, took over as OCBC's new group CEO on April 15, becoming the first woman to head a Singapore bank.

Ms Wong, 60, who joined OCBC in February last year as deputy president and head of global wholesale banking, replaced Mr Samuel Tsien, 67, who retired after 14 years with the bank, nine as CEO.

OCBC said in January that Mr Tsien had built the bank's franchise into a "much more diversified and resilient" business.

An analyst noted that Ms Wong's appointment signals the bank's continued focus on Greater China, given her decades of experience in the region. Indeed, since helming OCBC, she has shaped her leadership role in connecting China-Asean flows and in capitalising on the bank's network strength.

OCBC shares have risen 12 per cent this year, closing at $11.31 on Thursday.

The mainboard-listed mail carrier on Aug 13 named logistics industry veteran Vincent Phang Heng Wee as group CEO from Sept 1. Previous CEO Paul Coutts, 64, had resigned after four years at the helm to "pursue other opportunities".

Mr Phang, 47, had been SingPost's CEO for postal services and Singapore. He joined the company in April 2019 with experience as group CEO of ST Logistics and executive vice-president of Toll Global Logistics Singapore.

His appointment came shortly after SingPost reported a 2 per cent drop in its earnings before income and taxation to $21 million for its first quarter ended June 30, due to declines in the international post and parcel business.

He said he is committed to leading SingPost's transformation into a "leading logistics player".

SingPost shares have been relatively range-bound since Mr Phang's appointment. The counter closed at 65 cents on Thursday.

The mainboard-listed technology manufacturer, which specialises in solutions such as coatings for premium consumer electronics, said on Oct 14 that Mr Gary Ho Hock Yong, 49, will be group CEO from Jan 1 next year.

He takes over from founder and executive chairman Shi Xu, who became interim CEO in June after previous CEO Lee Liang Huang, 60, resigned for health reasons.

News of Mr Ho's appointment came a day after Nanofilm's shares closed at their lowest point this year, $3.70, from a high of $6.67, after investors were shaken by management changes and disappointing financials.

The stock has yet to recover, closing at $3.76 on Thursday.

Mr Ho had been deputy CEO and chief commercial officer at Nanofilm. He was chief marketing officer from 2018 to July last year.

The electronics manufacturing services company said on Nov 5 that chief operating officer Lee Ghai Keen, 66, will take over from Mr Wong Ngit Liong, 80, as CEO on Jan 1 next year.

Mr Wong will stay on as executive chairman and continue to provide strategic direction while remaining "accessible" to share his experience with Mr Lee.

The stock closed at $18.16 on Thursday, at the lower end of its 52-week range of $17.37 to $20.79.

Mr Kerry Mok, who joined Sats as the chief executive of its food solutions business in 2018, was appointed president and CEO for the ground handler from Dec 15.

Mr Mok, 50, replaces Mr Alex Hungate, who resigned in October after eight years at the helm. Mr Hungate has joined Grab as chief operating officer.

Before Mr Mok joined Sats, he had been CEO of supply chain management company YCH Group and acting CEO and chief operating officer of Goodpack, a container provider.

Sats shares have fallen 10 per cent since the Oct 22 announcement and ended Thursday at $3.85.

Mr Nicholas Chua, most recently deputy CEO of Ho Bee Land, was named its new CEO and executive director from next month.

The mainboard-listed developer said Mr Chua's father, Mr Chua Thian Poh, 73, who is chairman and CEO, will be redesignated as executive chairman.

Ho Bee shares closed at $2.78 on Thursday, nearer to the higher end of their 52-week range of between $2.35 and $3.02.

Ms Anthea Lee, 47, deputy CEO and head of investment at Keppel DC Reit's manager since 2018, took over as CEO from Feb 15.

She succeeded Mr Chua Hsien Yang, 44, who took up a senior appointment in Keppel Corp.

Ms Lee was previously vice-president of investment at Keppel Reit Management. She also held senior positions at JTC Corporation and Ascendas Land.

Keppel Capital CEO Christina Tan thanked the outgoing Mr Chua for his leadership since the Reit was listed in 2014, noting that the fund's portfolio had grown from $1 billion to $2.9 billion as at Sept 30 last year.

Units of the Reit closed at $2.40 on Thursday, at the lower end of a 52-week range of $2.32 to $3.04.

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