LEE is RESIGNING!!!!
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Lee Hsien Yang that is.
The chief executive of Singapore Telecommunications Ltd. , whose brother is the country's Prime Minister, surprised investors by announcing he would resign from Southeast Asia's biggest phone company.
Lee Hsien Yang, 48, who announced the decision on Friday after the stock market had closed, said he would stay on until SingTel had found a replacement. He gave no reason for leaving.
"It's certainly surprising, it's not something they've been telegraphing," said Hugh Young, managing director at Aberdeen Asset Management in Singapore.
He added "an emotional, knee-jerk reaction downward would be possible" in SingTel's share price when the stock market opens.
Lee, 48, is a member of Singapore's leading political family. His father, founding Prime Minister Lee Kuan Yew, still holds a cabinet position as Minister Mentor, while his elder brother, Lee Hsien Loong, is the country's Prime Minister.
Temasek Holdings [TEM.UL] -- the Singapore state investment firm which has a 54 percent stake in SingTel -- is run by the Prime Minister's wife, Ho Ching.
Fund managers and analysts dismissed suggestions that Lee's decision would herald a period of uncertainty for SingTel.
"There's unlikely to be any uncertainty going forward -- SingTel is a professionally run company, and with such companies, there is always a succession plan in place, and it's hard for one person's departure to have such a huge impact," said Bowen Phua, an analyst at DBS Vickers Securities.
Potential successors could include Allen Lew, the chief executive of SingTel's Singapore operations, and Chua Sock Koong, the chief financial officer and chief executive of its international businesses, Phua said.
"SingTel could get a professional guy from outside, but I think Allen is one of the most ideal internal candidates due to his experience in Australia and Thailand," Phua added.
Lew, 51, was appointed to his current position in February. Before that, he was the chief operating officer of SingTel's Thai mobile associate, Advanced Info Service Plc. , and managing director of the consumer division Australian unit Optus.
"A VERY LONG TIME"
Lee Hsien Yang has been chief executive officer of Singapore's largest listed firm since May 1995. The company said he would continue in his role as chief executive officer until a replacement had been found.
Lee told a press conference he did not have a specific reason for wanting to step down.
"It's really hard to find a reason. At some point in time you decide that you have been in a role for some time and you would want to look for change, and 12 years is a very long time for a tenure of any CEO," he told a media briefing.
"I have thoroughly enjoyed my role, it's been both challenging and great fun."
He added now was "as good a time as any" for him to step down. "I have always indicated to the board that I will not be here forever. There's now a strong management team in place, and given the strength of the company today, we would have both the options of credible internal candidates as well as serious external candidates who may be interested."
SingTel chairman Chumpol NamLamlieng said the board had only just started the process of searching for his successor.
"At the moment there is no time frame specified for this but we would take a thorough look at candidates internally and externally," he added.
Lee said he had not thought about what he wanted to do next. "At this point in time, I have neither solicited nor received any offers."
But politics was out. "I've said many times before that I do not think politics is something I am suited for. I have no great interest to pursue a career in politics," he added.
Lee joined SingTel in April 1994 as Executive Vice President of Local Services and took over at the helm a year later.
SingTel shares, which made their debut on the local bourse on Nov. 1, 1993, have traded below the price of S$3.60 at which they were sold to institutional investors for over six years. The stock closed at S$2.47 on Friday.
The company, with a market cap of $26 billion, paid Lee S$2.22 million in cash in the last financial year to March 31 -- representing an increase of 4.2 percent.
Facing a small home market of just 4.4 million people, where over nine out of 10 individuals own a mobile phone, SingTel has spent S$17 billion ($10 billion) in recent years buying operators in high-growth Asian nations with fewer cellphone users, and in the bigger Australian market.
It now derives about 75 percent of revenues and two-thirds of pre-tax earnings from operations outside Singapore.
SingTel owns 21.5 percent of AIS, 30.8 percent of India's Bharti Group , 44.6 percent of Globe Telecom Inc. in the Philippines, 35 percent of Indonesia's PT Telkomsel , and 45 percent of Pacific Bangladesh Telecom Ltd. -
Always see him at my workplace.
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this is a surprise!!!
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He's gonna be unemployed and become a regular Sgforumer.
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then is he gonna get P-membership...?Originally posted by Cenarious:He's gonna be unemployed and become a regular Sgforumer.
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He can sign up for many yearsOriginally posted by GHoST_18:then is he gonna get P-membership...? -
Oh what the hell... get him to buy the entire SgForums!!Originally posted by laurence82:He can sign up for many years -
Originally posted by mhcampboy:Oh what the hell... get him to buy the entire SgForums!!
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can i ask him to ban u after that...?Originally posted by mhcampboy:Oh what the hell... get him to buy the entire SgForums!! -
No. We will ask him to to dial 1800 GHOSTBUSTER.Originally posted by GHoST_18:can i ask him to ban u after that...?
We need to get rid of ghosts!!!
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Originally posted by mhcampboy:No. We will ask him to to dial 1800 GHOSTBUSTER.
We need to get rid of ghosts!!! -
he will say TMD how come singnet so lag.
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TMD! how come singnet so lag?!
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Originally posted by mhcampboy:No. We will ask him to to dial 1800 GHOSTBUSTER.
We need to get rid of ghosts!!! -
i thoght christmas came early but ....................
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then after that... he becomes starhub CEO..Originally posted by Rejected:TMD! how come singnet so lag?! -
no la, open another cable tv firm , or SG's first satellite TV operator.Originally posted by mhcampboy:then after that... he becomes starhub CEO.. -
Dun be too happy....scully he quit and join politics to form the invincible LEE BROTHERS CLAN
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SingTel chairman Chumpol NamLamlieng.... is that a thai name?
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He "Tan Gow Liao " lah
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Better let go all my Stel shares on Next monday loh!!!
Remember wat Ho cheng did to Chartered Semi Con after she had left ,Share price dropped from S$15 to S$1.22 now!!