InTouch chief to step down
Chief executive of InTouch Holdings Plc Philip Chen Chong Tan will step down at the end of next month for health reasons.
Anek Pana-apichon, the company’s executive vice-president for finance and accounting, will be acting chief executive from
July 1 until a successor is appointed, according to the company’s statement.
“The board of directors of Intouch has acknowledged and approved the resignation of Mr Tan, effective June 30, 2017 due to his personal health conditions and need to undergo surgery, which will require time to heal and recover,” the statement read.
Mr Tan, 51, took the helm in January last year to succeed Somprasong Boonyachai. Prior to joining InTouch, Mr Tan held senior roles at AT&T in Thailand and Bell Labs and was chief executive of Bank of Ayudhaya (BAY).
Under his leadership, he outlined four strategic business areas for InTouch to focus on — telecommunications, information technology, digital media and digital content.
InTouch has scaled up its investment in digital-driven businesses this year as the country’s biggest telecommunications conglomerate accelerates efforts to deploy disruptive technologies to shake up oldfashioned telecom services.
InTouch has i nitially allocated up to 45 billion baht to its mobile flagship Advanced I nfo Service (AIS) for its 4G network expansion in 2017, another US$250 million (8.8 billion baht) to its satellite arm Thaicom Plc for a new satellite launch, an additional 200 million baht for venture capital through Invent Co, and another 250 million baht for research and development on new technology-based business opportunities.
The telecom holding firm saw its net profit during the three months to March fall to 3.12 billion baht from 3.46 billion over the same period last year.
INTUCH shares closed yesterday on the Stock Exchange of Thailand at 54.75 baht, unchanged, in trade worth 96 million baht.