This article first appeared in The Edge Financial Daily on September 27, 2018

KUALA LUMPUR: Pos Malaysia Bhd is back on the hunt for a chief executive officer (CEO) to replace Al-Ishsal Ishak, who has held the post for only seven months since February this year.

Al-Ishsal is relinquishing his directorship in the national postal service provider — a subsidiary of DRB-Hicom Bhd — following his new appointment as chairman of the Malaysian Communications and Multimedia Commission (MCMC) effective Oct 1.

Al-Ishsal will be stepping down from the position on Sept 30, according to its filing with the stock exchange yesterday.

“At the same time, the board of directors of Pos Malaysia shall find a suitable replacement for Al-Ishsal and shall make the appropriate announcement soon,” it said.

During Al-Ishsal’s short tenure, it said, he had served Pos Malaysia well, with key initiatives undertaken. Pos Malaysia chairman Datuk Mohammad Zainal Shaari said it is regrettable that Al-Ishsal has to leave for the bigger calling of national duty.

“It is a clear loss to Pos Malaysia and a gain for MCMC.

“With expertise in digital technology, Al-Ishsal spearheaded key programmes to address the underlying potential of Pos Malaysia amid the digital opportunities and put a clear road map on how to address them,” he said.

To recap, Pos Malaysia’s previous CEO Datuk Mohd Shukrie Salleh stepped down in December last year after he had been in the post for barely two years. His resignation sparked concerns that the plans he had put in place to transform the postal group would be abandoned.

Selling pressure on the postal group of late emerged as investors were disappointed that the increase in e-commence activities did not help to boost Pos Malaysia’s earnings. Year to date, the postal group’s share price has shed by one third to RM3.59 yesterday.

Moving forward, analysts said it is hoped that Pos Malaysia would soon have a CEO who would stay on the job in the longer term to ensure stability and certainty in the group’s operations and business strategies.