KUALA LUMPUR (Jan 6): Exactly one year into the job, Malaysia Airports Holdings Bhd (MAHB) group chief executive officer (CEO) Raja Azmi Raja Nazuddin has stepped down, handing the reins over to its chief operating officer (COO) Datuk Mohd Shukrie Mohd Salleh.

In a surprise move, MAHB today announced that Raja Azmi, 52, has resigned to pursue other opportunities.

Raja Azmi joined MAHB on Feb 1, 2016 as chief financial officer before he was promoted to his current position on Jan 4, 2019. 

"As a public listed company, MAHB will be undertaking the proper process to identify and appoint a suitable successor," the airport operator said in a statement today.

"In the interim, the board has appointed Datuk Mohd Shukrie Mohd Salleh, the current COO, as the acting group CEO with immediate effect," it added.

Mohd Shukrie has been COO of MAHB since May 1, 2019. Prior to that, he was the COO of AirAsia Group Bhd.

He was also the former group CEO of KL Airport Services Sdn Bhd, the aircraft ground handling, cargo and logistics arm of DRB-Hicom Group. On July 1, 2011, he joined Pos Malaysia Bhd as group COO and was thereafter re-designated as covering group CEO on Feb 1, 2013.  In 2013, he joined Konsortium Logistik Bhd as group CEO.

He was appointed as the group CEO of Pos Malaysia on Nov 1, 2015. 

The announcement was made after market close. Shares of MAHB closed unchanged at RM7.56 today, for a market capitalisation of RM12.54 billion.