SIA proposes change of external auditor after 43 years

SINGAPORE Airlines (SIA) is proposing to appoint KPMG LLP as its auditor in place of its outgoing auditor Ernst & Young LLP, the carrier announced in a letter to shareholders on Wednesday.

Ernst & Young LLP has served as SIA's external auditor since 1972.

"As part of the ongoing good corporate governance initiatives, the directors are of the view that it would be timely to effect a change of external auditor with effect from the financial year ended March 31, 2016," SIA said.

It added that Ernst & Young LLP will accordingly not be seeking reappointment at SIA's forthcoming 2015 annual general meeting (AGM).

KPMG LLP, which is a member firm of KPMG International, was selected for the proposed appointment after the audit committee invited and evaluated competitive proposals from various audit firms, SIA said.

The audit committee reviewed and deliberated on the proposals received from each of the audit firms, taking into consideration factors such as the adequacy of resources and experience of the audit firm to be selected, and the audit engagement partner to be assigned to the audit, as well as the size and complexity of the company and its subsidiaries.

The directors have taken into account the audit committee's recommendation, including the factors considered in their evaluation, and are satisfied that KPMG LLP will be able to meet the audit requirements of the company, SIA said.

The audit partner who will be in charge of the audit is Tham Sai Choy, a fellow of the Institute of Singapore Chartered Accountants and the Institute of Chartered Accountants in England and Wales, as well as of the Singapore Institute of Directors, and a public accountant registered with the Accounting and Corporate Regulatory Authority.

Mr Tham has had more than 30 years of experience in providing audit and advisory services to a variety of clients, including companies listed on Singapore Exchange. He has been managing partner of KPMG Singapore since 2010 and currently also serves as chairman of KPMG in the Asia-Pacific.

Separately, SIA's board of directors has also proposed the renewal of the company's share buyback mandate at the 2015 AGM.

At the 2014 extraordinary general meeting, shareholders had approved the renewal of a mandate to enable the company to purchase or otherwise acquire issued ordinary shares in the capital of the company. This mandate is set to expire on the date of the 2015 AGM.

As at June 3, the company had purchased or acquired an aggregate of 6.98 million shares by way of on-market share buybacks. The total consideration paid for all purchases was S$68.98 million, excluding commission, brokerage and goods and services tax.

The AGM is scheduled to be held on July 30.

As at 12.16pm on Wednesday, SIA's counter was trading up 1.025 per cent at S$10.84.