Hot stock: Singtel shares hit 52-week low of S$2.28 after Optus CEO departure

SHARES of Singtel shed as much as 2.1 per cent on Monday (Nov 20) after the telco announced that Australian subsidiary Optus’s chief executive Kelly Bayer Rosmarin has tendered her resignation.

Shares of the company fell S$0.05 to a 52-week low of S$2.28 as at 1.12pm, before recovering to S$2.30 by 4.30 pm.

By 3.20pm, Singtel was the second-most traded counter by volume after 32.4 million shares worth S$74.5 million changed hands. Its shares stood at S$2.29, down 1.7 per cent or S$0.04.

In a bourse filing, the company said that chief financial officer Michael Venter will assume the role of interim chief executive as the search for a new chief begins.

Former StarHub chief executive Peter Kaliaropoulos will be appointed chief operating officer. He was previously Optus’ business managing director and will report to Venter when he rejoins the company on Nov 22.

Rosmarin faced a Senate inquiry on Friday, where she elaborated on the cause of a massive network outage that left over 10 million customers without phone or Internet services on Nov 8.