SingPost Group CEO Dr Wolfgang Baier resigns

Dr Wolfgang Baier has resigned from his position as Group Chief Executive Officer (GCEO) of Singapore Post (SingPost). In a statement issued today (10 December), SingPost said that Dr Baier will support a handover until 30 June 2016 or earlier.

SingPost said that Dr Baier was moving on to pursue “new endeavours”.

The company said that it will be looking ” both internally and externally” for a new GCEO.

As part of the transition plan, Deputy Chairman Goh Yeow Tin will be appointed an Executive Director with effect from 1 January for a period of 12 months and he will oversee the Group’s post-merger integration activities, the business and operations in Singapore.

The SingPost statement added: “Mervyn Lim, Deputy GCEO (Corporate Services), will cover the work of the GCEO. During this period, SingPost Chairman, Lim Ho Kee will step up his involvement to provide management with more time and guidance over and above the normal oversight of the role as SingPost continues accelerating its transformation – a journey which began more than a decade ago, in the face of declining letter mail volume.”

Commenting on Dr Baier’s resignation – which will be a major talking point in the industry – the  Chairman of SingPost, Lim Ho Kee said, “The Board appreciates and thanks Wolfgang for his leadership and role in accelerating SingPost’s transformation. Under Wolfgang’s leadership and great team effort, SingPost has been established as a regional leader in eCommerce logistics business, with a strong focus on digitising our business. We are happy to have provided guidance to him and the SingPost team with creating an ecosystem to support the fast evolving digital and eCommerce logistics business in the region. We wish Wolfgang every success in his new endeavours.”

Dr Baier joined SingPost as Chief Executive Officer (International) in February 2011 to oversee the development of SingPost’s international wing, and then stepped up to the GCEO role in October of that year.

Commenting on his time with SingPost and his plans for the future, Dr Baier said, “It has been an exciting journey with the entire SingPost team as we stepped up SingPost’s transformation from a domestic mail player to a regional eCommerce logistics leader.

“I am thankful to the Chairman and Board for entrusting me and the team to lead SingPost’s accelerated transformation and our pioneering efforts in creating an end-to-end eCommerce logistics platform, over the last five years. The Board also guided our team’s tremendous joint efforts in upgrading SingPost’s core business, with our people and front-liners at the centre.

“I am moving to new endeavours and will ensure a smooth handover before I leave.”

The departing GCEO added that he was “confident that SingPost is well positioned to ride on the huge eCommerce opportunities to become one of the global leaders in eCommerce logistics”.

As a result of the business “transformation” plan, SingPost has been investing heavily to ramp up its regional e-commerce capabilities.

The company has, for example, recently acquired stakes in the US-based e-commerce companies TradeGlobal and Jagged Peak.

In August, SingPost announced that it was investing in Morning Express & Logistics to give it “tangible eCommerce logistics and last-mile delivery capability in Hong Kong”. At the same time, it took a 50% stake in E Link Station – a company which  has a network of self-collection parcel service points across Hong Kong.

In June, SingPost took a stake in Hubbed, an Australian company which arranges parcel deliveries and returns using a national network of more than 600 newsagents.

Perhaps SingPost’s  single most important statement of intent about e-commerce is its tie-up with Alibaba. The Chinese online retailer giant has a 14.51% equity stake in SingPost and the two companies share a “deep commitment” to “service the rapidly growing e-commerce businesses across Asia Pacific and beyond”.

SingPost Chairman Lim Ho Kee stressed that the business transformation plan is still very much in place: “We will continue to accelerate SingPost’s transformation and building our global eCommerce logistics business on the back of our strong postal backbone.”