Nets

Network for Electronic Transfers (Nets) chief executive officer Jeffrey Goh will step down from his post, the Singapore payments network firm announced yesterday.

His departure takes effect next Friday.

Nets' board of directors has named Mr Ricky Lim, managing director of Nets subsidiary, Nets Solutions, as the interim group CEO.

The firm said it has begun an executive search for a successor from both the internal Nets organisation as well as the external sector.

Nets said Mr Goh, who has been the CEO for eight years, will be pursuing other opportunities outside the company.

Nets board chairman Ching Wei Hong said the firm is looking to "turn bold ideas into meaningful innovation in the payment space" in the coming years, with Mr Lim holding the fort during this transition period.

Sembcorp Industries

Mainboard-listed conglomerate Sembcorp Industries yesterday posted a 13 per cent decline in net profit for the third quarter ended Sept 30, as higher finance costs mainly arising from its marine and energy businesses took a toll on the bottom line.

The conglomerate engaging in energy, marine and urban development businesses recorded a net profit of $71 million, lower than the $82 million generated for the year-ago period.

It saw a 25 per cent spike in finance costs to $151 million, which the group in its quarterly financial statements attributed mainly to higher average bank borrowings for the ongoing projects and working-capital needs of its marine and energy businesses.

Also, it said the increase was due to two of its power plants that have commenced operations, and therefore "interest costs are no longer capitalised".

The fall in net profit caused its earnings per share to dip 13 per cent to 3.47 cents for the third quarter, from 3.98 cents for the year-ago period.

Revenue stood at $2.45 billion, down 19 per cent from $3.02 billion a year ago.

As its "practice is to consider declaring dividends on biannual basis", no interim dividend was declared for the third quarter.