ComfortDelGro picks new group CEO

Deputy group chief executive Cheng Siak Kian (left) will succeed veteran Yang Ban Seng at the helm from January. PHOTOS: COMFORTDELGRO

SINGAPORE - In a widely anticipated announcement, transport giant ComfortDelGro Corp said on Thursday that group deputy chief executive Cheng Siak Kian will succeed veteran Yang Ban Seng at the helm from Jan 1, 2023.

Mr Cheng, a 53-year-old former brigadier-general in the Republic of Singapore Air Force, joined ComfortDelGro subsidiary SBS Transit as a senior vice-president in 2015. He was posted to Australia to helm ComfortDelGro’s business in New South Wales in December 2016.

In July 2019, he returned to Singapore to become chief operating officer of SBS Transit. He was named the public transport operator’s chief executive in March 2021.

Earlier this year, he became ComfortDelGro’s first deputy chief executive.

Mr Cheng takes over from Mr Yang, 66, who will retire after 5½ years at the helm.

Mr Yang has been with the group since 1989, when he started out at Comfort Transportation – well before its merger with the DelGro group in 2003.

ComfortDelGro said group chief financial officer Derek Koh will double as group deputy CEO.

ComfortDelGro chairman Lim Jit Poh said a five-member board committee was set up to assess “both internal and external candidates before appointing Siak Kian to the role of Group Deputy CEO earlier this year”.

“Having understudied Ban Seng for the last eight months, we believe Siak Kian is ready to move into the driver’s seat,” Mr Lim added.

“The board is confident that under his stewardship, ComfortDelGro will continue to build upon its past successes, despite the growing challenges we face.”

Mr Lim also paid tribute to Mr Yang, who will step down from the board but will remain with the group as an adviser.

“Ban Seng has steered the group through unprecedented challenges, including the Covid-19 pandemic of 2020 and 2021,” he said. “Even now, close to three years after it (Covid-19) first reared its ugly head, the world is still recovering from its aftermath. Despite all that, Ban Seng has done a very commendable job, leading the team in exploring new opportunities and expanding our rail footprint internationally.”

Mr Yang said: “It has been an honour and a privilege. We would not have been able to pull through the challenges thrown our way in the last few years without the sheer hard work and dedication of a very committed senior team and all our people, both in Singapore and abroad.”

Meanwhile, SBS Transit will promote the chief executive of its rail business, Mr Jeffrey Sim Vee Ming, to group CEO with effect from Jan 1. Mr Sim, a former group commander in the RSAF, will take over from Mr Cheng.

Mr Sim, 46, has been with SBS Transit since 2015. He will continue to helm the rail business, will serve as a non-independent executive director of the board, and sit as a member of three board committees – service quality, sustainability, and tenders.

Mr Cheng will continue as deputy chairman but in a non-independent, non-executive capacity.

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