Upheaval at SingPost as CEO, COO, and CFO resigned in the span of a year

Can SingPost still deliver? Photo credit: Denis Bocquet.

In the space of a year, Singapore-based logistics group SingPost has lost almost its entire top management team. News just came out that its COO, Sascha Hower, has resigned to “pursue new opportunities overseas.” He will leave in August.

This development is unremarkable on its own. But consider these:

• Its CFO, Daniel Phua, announced in July 2015 that he will leave the group to “pursue other career aspirations.”
• The CEO, Wolfgang Baier, announced in December 2015 that he has also resigned. Deputy chairman Goh Yeow Tin was appointed as executive chairman for 12 months.
• SingPost said in the same month that it failed to disclose board director Keith Tay’s interest in an acquisition deal.
• SingPost chairman Lim Ho Kee stepped down in April after his intended successor declined to take up the post. Another successor was eventually found.
• Keith Tay stepped down in May.
• The deadline to finalize its deal with Alibaba was pushed back for the third time, to October this year.
• This month, it introduced new policies to govern its board directors.
• Goh Yeow Tin to step down in the same month just half a year into his tenure as executive chairman, in order to “devote more time to his other commitments.” He holds directorships in 10 other firms.

SingPost has not yet announced a new CEO. Despite these changes, the group posted positive results in financial year 2015, a sign that its shift from a mail carrier to a logistics company was working. Its annual revenue hit US$840 million, up 25 percent year-on-year. Net profit jumped 58 percent to US$181 million.

These upheavals, however, could put a spanner in SingPost’s progress and cause shareholders to be jittery. Listed on the Singapore Exchange, its share price took a dive after Wolfgang Baier announced his resignation.

Converted from Singapore dollars. US$1 = S$1.36.