SBS Transit, ComfortDelGro to appoint new CEOs from Jan 1

TRANSPORT operator SBS Transit : S61 0% (SBST) will promote Jeffrey Sim Vee Ming, the current chief executive officer (CEO) of its rail business, to group CEO from Jan 1 next year.

This comes a year after the 46-year-old was appointed to his current post, serving previously as head of rail development and head of North East Line and Sengkang Punggol LRT.

Sim will take over from Cheng Siak Kian, 53, who will be appointed managing director and group CEO of SBST’s parent company, ComfortDelGro Corporation : C52 0%, on the same date. Cheng was named ComfortDelGro’s group deputy CEO in March this year.

In a statement on Thursday (Dec 8), SBST said the leadership change is part of its planned succession programme.

Sim has been with SBST since 2015. Under his watch, the Downtown Line clocked more than four million train-km in mean kilometres between failure – a measure of reliability used globally by rail operators – in 2021 and year-to-date 2022. This makes it the most reliable MRT line in the world, SBST said in its statement.  

Cheng, on the other hand, will take over at ComfortDelGro from Yang Ban Seng, 66. Yang will be retiring after five-and-a-half years at the helm.

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As part of the change in leadership, ComfortDelGro will also streamline its reporting structure, the parent company said in a separate statement on Thursday.

Its group corporate office, which houses all corporate functions, will be reorganised into three divisions. They include the corporate services division under Derek Koh, who will be named the new group deputy CEO, the corporate development division under group development officer Rudy Tan, and the corporate affairs division under group corporate affairs officer Tammy Tan.

Its overseas offices will also be streamlined.

ComfortDelGro shares closed flat at S$1.24 on Thursday, while shares of SBST also ended unchanged at S$2.57.