Singtel veteran Yuen Kuan Moon to take over as CEO

Mr Yuen Kuan Moon, who has been with Singtel since 1993, is set to become its group chief executive next year.

He will be taking over from Ms Chua Sock Koong, 62, who will retire on Jan 1, the Republic's largest telco said in a bourse filing yesterday.

"With Singtel well positioned for the future, it is a good time for me to retire," Ms Chua said in the statement.

Mr Yuen's appointment by the company's board comes after a year-long global search that considered both internal and external candidates for the job, Singtel added.

He beat out eight other competitors to land the top job, said board chairman Lee Theng Kiat during a press briefing yesterday.

Mr Yuen, 53, is currently CEO of Singtel's consumer business in Singapore and its chief digital officer.

"He has risen through the ranks of the company, with leadership positions in marketing, business development and sales, and Telkomsel in Indonesia," Singtel said. Telkomsel is Singtel's regional associate.

His roles in Singtel included vice-president of regional operations and executive vice-president of digital consumer.

Mr Yuen is also on the boards of SkillsFuture Singapore and Singapore Institute of Management Group, and is a member of the Digital Readiness Council Steering Committee, which aims to prepare Singaporeans for the digital economy and the Republic's Smart Nation plan.

He is married with two children.

He has been appointed group CEO-designate and will assume the role of group CEO after Ms Chua retires. Ms Chua will stay on as senior adviser to Mr Lee to help with the leadership transition.

Ms Chua, who has been group CEO since 2007, was formerly Singtel international CEO and chief financial officer.

"I have seen a few global crises on my watch - the dot.com bust, the global financial crisis, the India competition challenges - and I am proud of how we have weathered those storms and business challenges," she said in the statement.

Ms Chua was also part of the core leadership team that developed Singtel's internationalisation strategy, which saw to the acquisition of Optus in Australia, among other regional investments.

She was the first woman to be appointed as the Public Service Commission's deputy chairman and to Singapore's Council of Presidential Advisers.

Mr Yuen told a press briefing yesterday that he will be working closely with the board, Ms Chua and his other colleagues to ensure a smooth transition.

He will be meeting Singtel's major customers, the union and the company's various business unit heads over the next few months.

The meetings will "help formulate my strategy for taking Singtel into the next phase of development", he said, adding that more details will be released in time.

"This is an exciting juncture, with 5G and digitalisation changing the game, not just for the telecoms sector, but for enterprises across all industries," Mr Yuen said.

Mr Lee said Mr Yuen was chosen because he is a "known entity (who) has been with the company since the very beginning of his career". "He has exhibited an ability to work at different segments of the entire business of the Singtel group... He has a good appreciation of what needs to be done," he added.

Mr Yuen holds a first-class honours degree in engineering from the University of Western Australia and a Master of Science in management from Stanford University.

Singtel's succession plans come as it struggles to grow its busi-ness amid the Covid-19 pandemic and intensifying competition in the industry.

Mr Yuen's task will be to increase the company's profitability.

For the three months to June this year, the telco posted a 24.2 per cent drop in its earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation to $897 million. This is down from $1.18 billion a year ago.

It posted its first-ever net loss of $668 million in the three months to September last year. This was due to having to set aside $1.93 billion for a fine imposed on its Indian associate company, Bharti Airtel.

Singtel has been trying to grow its business with Dash, its e-wallet, and has also applied for a full digital banking licence with Grab.

Last month, it launched 5G trial services in Singapore and became the second telco after StarHub to allow consumers to surf on a faster mobile network.

Singtel's share price rose 3 cents to $2.15 when the market closed yesterday.