The Trustee-Manager of Asian Pay Television Trust S7OU (APTT) will replace its chief executive officer with its current chief financial officer on Aug 1.
According to a July 5 bourse filing, outgoing CEO Brian McKinley will “continue to support the Trustee-Manager as a consultant”.
Both McKinley and the current CFO Somnath Adak have been with the Trustee-Manager, APTT Management, since APTT’s listing in 2013. They were appointed to their current roles in 2017.
Adak will relinquish his CFO duties to Annie Koh, formerly chief operating officer for the audit division of KPMG Singapore. Koh will be appointed financial controller of the Trustee-Manager on Aug 1.
According to the Trustee-Manager, Koh will work closely with Miranda Cheng, CFO of the Taiwan Broadband Communications Group (TBC), APTT’s sole investment.
APTT has an investment mandate to acquire controlling interests in and to own, operate and maintain mature, cash-generative pay-TV and broadband businesses in Taiwan, Hong Kong, Japan and Singapore.
See also: Asian Pay Television Trust posts FY2023 net loss of $436.24 mil from $440 mil impairment loss
Yong Lum Sung, chair of the Trustee-Manager Board, thanks McKinley for “his invaluable contributions”. “Compared to 2017, APTT is now in a stronger position to navigate an increasingly challenging and competitive environment. Notably, it has reduced debt levels and strengthened its balance sheet. Additionally, APTT has registered consistent broadband growth over the last few years, cushioning the impact of a declining cable TV business.”
Yong adds: “While we regret that Mr McKinley will be stepping down, we are confident that Mr Adak will continue his predecessor’s good work and lead the Trustee-Manager as the new CEO. Mr Adak’s appointment reflects the Trustee-Manager’s effective succession planning.”
Board renewal
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Three independent directors of the Trustee-Manager Board, namely Ong Joo Mien, Joanna; Tan Chung Yaw, Richard; and Leong Shin Loong, will be stepping down on July 15.
One has been a board member for nine years, while Tan and Leong have served on the board since APTT’s listing in 2014.
McKinley will also step down from the board on July 15.
The Trustee-Manager will appoint Stephen Ho Chiming and Calvin Zhang as independent directors on July 15.
Ho was managing director at DBS Bank in Singapore, Hong Kong, and Taiwan between 2001 and 2019. He also served as an advisor to the Institutional Banking Group of DBS (Taiwan) until the end of 2023.
Ho currently serves as independent director at Singapore-listed Azeus Systems Holdings BBW and Valuetronics BN2 , as well as ceEntek Pte Ltd.
Zhang is currently managing director at ApaH Capital, an Asian multi-strategy hedge fund seeded by Blackstone Capital. Prior to this, he was an investment banker for over two decades; Zhang was managing director at Bank of America Merrill Lynch and JPMorgan, where he was also head of Asia Pacific Telecom & Media. He spearheaded the TMT corporate finance advisory practice at McKinsey & Company in Hong Kong.
In March, APTT reported net loss after tax of $436.24 million, mainly driven by an impairment loss of $440.0 million, for FY2023 ended Dec 31, 2023. Revenue, meanwhile, fell 5.8% y-o-y to $65.40 million in FY2023, while total operating expenses grew 3.6% y-o-y to $27.25 million.
Units in Asian Pay Television Trust closed flat at 7.7 cents on June 5.
