M1 to get new CEO
SINGAPORE--MobileOne (M1) CEO Neil Montefiore has resigned and will step down as the mobile operator's chief from Feb. 1, according a company statement released Friday evening.
 MobileOne CFO Karen Kooi |
M1 said Montefiore, who joined the company in April 1996, resigned to "pursue other personal interests". CFO Karen Kooi will take over as Acting CEO, while retaining her current duties. Her appointment is subject to the approval of Singapore's ICT regulator, the Infocomm Development Authority (IDA).
A Fellow Chartered Certified Accountant, Kooi has been with M1 since August 1995, M1 said. She also has a Masters of Business Administration in Investment and Finance from Hull University in the United Kingdom.
M1 Chairman Lim Chee Onn said in the statement: "Neil has very ably led M1 from its launch in April 1997, through its public listing in 2002 and to its current strong position in the telecommunications market. M1 is now poised and ready for future challenges and further growth as a multiple play operator."
The mobile operator said it will "commence an internal and external search to identify the best candidate" to assume the CEO position, and will make an announcement on the appointment "in due course".
M1 has some 1.6 million customers in Singapore, as of September 2008, and is listed on the Singapore Exchange. The company's operating revenue for the nine months ended September 2008 was S$605.9 million (US$416.5 million), a 1.6 percent increase over the same period in 2007. Its net profit clocked in at S$113.5 million (US$78 million), a 15.2 percent dip over the same period in 2007.