ComfortDelGro’s founding chairman to retire

Mark Greaves, who has been on CDG’s board since May 2020, will replace Lim as chairman.

ComfortDelGro’s (CDG) C52  founding chairman, Lim Jit Poh, will retire after 20 years of helming the transport operator.

Lim, who is one of the longest-serving chairpersons in corporate Singapore, will not be seeking re-election at the company’s upcoming annual general meeting (AGM) on April 28. Lim has been chairman of CDG and was key in the merger of Comfort Group and DelGro Corporation in 2003. However, his tenure with the group began in 1981 when he joined subsidiary Vicom as one of its founding directors.

Mark Greaves, who has been on CDG’s board since May 2020, will replace Lim as chairman. Greaves is an accomplished banker and businessman who has been based in Asia for 40 years with extensive experience on listed company boards in Singapore, the UK and other places.

Upon his retirement, Lim will take on the title of chairman emeritus.

“Twenty years have gone by in a flash. Much has been done and still more needs to be completed. But I believe the time is right for me to hand over the reins to a new chairman who will lead the group through its next phase of growth,” says Lim.

“This is part of the renewal of the board which began six years ago. In that time, great care has been taken to ensure that new directors who come on board bring with them relevant experience and expertise so that they can contribute to the growth of the group. The board is well placed to ensure that ComfortDelGro keeps growing in breadth and depth going forward,” he adds.

Another member of the board, Adeline Sum, will also be retiring at the upcoming AGM after reaching the end of her term under the normal rotation rules. Sum, who has been with the board since 2007, served as chairman of the company’s audit and risk committee. She was also a member of other committees such as the nominating and remuneration, investment, as well as digitalisation and sustainability during her tenure.

Following the retirements of Lim and Sum, the average tenure of CDG’s board will be 2.4 years with the longest-serving director on the board for 5.5 years.

“In the last two decades, we have delivered on our promise to grow the business whilst laying the foundation for sustainable growth. We have invested extensively in both hardware and software, short-term and long-term, building up our talent pool and putting in place systems and processes which can be easily replicated throughout our global operations,” says Lim.

“In the next 20, 30 and even 40 years, we will continue to deliver reliable, efficient and safe transport services to more people in more countries. We will also look at more ancillary businesses to branch into as we build upon our core strengths. Medical transport is something we have already started delving into. This is likely to grow in importance as the world’s population ages. We will have to explore possibilities in building an ecosystem focussed on the ageing population,” he adds.

Shares in CDG closed flat at $1.18 on March 29.

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