SG Morning Call | SIA’s Air India Looks for New CEO to Replace Campbell Wilson

Market Snapshot

Singapore stocks opened higher on Tuesday. STI rose 0.5%; DBS up 1%; Nio fell 2%; ST Engineering fell 1%.

Stocks in Focus

$Creative(C76.SI)$: Sim Li Ern, the nephew of the company’s late founder Sim Wong Hoo, has been appointed as its new chief executive officer, effective on Monday. He will take over from interim CEO Tan Jok Tin, who will also be stepping down from his role as executive chairman. Shares of Creative rose 0.9 per cent to close S$0.005 higher at S$0.59 on Monday, before the announcement.

$IFAST(AIY.SI)$: The digital wealth management platform on Monday said it is proposing to buy a 30 per cent stake in financial advisory firm Financial Alliance Corporation for S$19.6 million. The deal will provide a “strategic bridge” between iFast’s wealth management platform and the business-to-business financial advisory service provided by Financial Alliance. iFast shares rose 0.5 per cent to close S$0.05 higher at S$9.57, before the announcement.

$CONCORD NE(SEG.SI)$: Hong Kong-listed Concord New Energy will begin its secondary listing on the Singapore Exchange (SGX) on Tuesday. This will mark the first listing on the SGX in 2026. The group said its shares closed at HK$0.34 on the Hong Kong Exchange on Monday; this translates to about S$0.056 based on the prevailing exchange rate.

$DigiCore Reit USD(DCRU.SI)$: The pure-play data centre real estate investment trust (Reit) has reached a 10-year agreement with an investment-grade global cloud-service provider, to occupy its vacant Northern Virginia facility. The manager said on Monday that this will raise the Reit’s portfolio occupancy to 98 per cent, from 81 per cent. Units of Digital Core Reit rose 6.9 per cent to close US$0.035 higher at US$0.545, before the news.

$Ley Choon(Q0X.SI)$: The utilities construction and road works company said on Monday it had submitted an application to switch from the Catalist board to the mainboard. It had been transferred to the Catalist board in 2017 under a debt restructuring agreement, but has now paid all outstanding amounts due to its lenders. Ley Choon said that a transfer at this point in time will better support its medium to long-term business plans and broaden access to institutional capital. Shares of Ley Choon fell 2.5 per cent to close S$0.002 lower at S$0.078, before the announcement.

SG Local News

SIA’s Air India Looks for New CEO to Replace Campbell Wilson: Sources

Air India’s board is scouting for a new chief executive to replace Campbell Wilson, two people with direct knowledge of the matter said, as the airline remains under intense scrutiny over safety lapses after a crash in June killed 260 people.

In the aftermath of the world’s deadliest aviation disaster in a decade, regulators flagged problems ranging from flying aircraft without emergency equipment checks to delays in replacing engine parts, maintenance record forgery and shortcomings in managing crew fatigue.

Wilson took over as Air India CEO and managing director in July 2022 after a 26-year career at Singapore Airlines, where he held a range of senior roles across the flagship carrier and its wholly owned low-cost arm Scoot.

New Zealand-born Wilson’s term at Air India is due to end in mid-2027 but he could be replaced before then, according to India’s The Economic Times newspaper, which first reported the search for a new CEO on Monday (Jan 5).