Rohana Rozhan, one of the Asian entertainment industry’s most senior female executives, has resigned as CEO of pay-TV group Astro Malaysia. Her departure will become effective at the end of January 2019, when she will be replaced by Henry Tan, currently Astro’s chief content and consumer officer.
Rozhan “has been an inspirational leader to all at Astro, having led the team in setting many firsts and milestones for the media industry in Malaysia. We respect her decision to step down…and wish her all the very best and a bright future ahead,” Tun Zaki Azmi, Astro’s chairman, said in a prepared statement.
Rozhan, who has been with the group since it first launched about 20 years ago, has not indicated what she will do after she steps down from her post. Astro said she would remain a board member.
Having risen from the corporate planning department, Rozhan became Astro CEO in 2006 and group CEO in 2012. She consistently, and unfashionably, argued that finance directors make good CEOs. And she championed racial and gender diversity within the company, arguing that both are good for business in a consumer-driven industry.
“The business that we built at Astro over the years is attributable to one thing – the passionate, committed and talented individuals that make up Team Astro. It is my honor to have been part of this amazing team, moving as one, to achieve far more than I ever dreamed possible in a fast-evolving and dynamic industry,” Rozhan said in a statement.
During her tenure as CEO, Astro’s customer base grew from 2 million to 5.5 million, while revenue grew by $450 million (RM1.79 billion) to $1.36 billion (RM5.53 billion) for the financial year ending Jan. 31, 2018, the company said.
Variety, in association with MipTV in Cannes, earlier this year honored Rozhan with its Achievement in International TV Award. She was the first Asian to receive the honor.
KUALA LUMPUR (June 7): Astro Malaysia Holdings Bhd said today group chief executive officer (CEO) Datuk Rohana Rozhan has given notice of her resignation, which will take effect from Jan 31, 2019.
Astro said Rohana's resignation notice was due to her intention "to pursue other goals".
Pay-TV operator Astro said in filings to Bursa Malaysia that notwithstanding Rohana's resignation as group CEO on Jan 31, 2019, she will remain on the board as a non-executive director.
"The board of directors wishes to thank Dato' Rohana Rozhan for her valuable contributions, and is appreciative of her leadership of Astro for more than 20 years.
"In line with the group's succession plan, the board has approved the appointment of Mr. Henry Tan as Dato' Rohana's successor. Dato' Rohana will transition her leadership to Mr Henry Tan, who is currently group chief content & consumer officer. He has been with Astro for more than 10 years. The board believes that Henry will continue to champion and lead Astro into the future," Astro said.
According to Astro, Rohana, a pioneer member of the group since 1995, rose up the ranks to become its group CEO. During her tenure as group CEO, Astro said its customer base grew from two million to 5.5 million.
Astro said Rohana champions diversity and complementarity in assembling Astro's top team and is passionate about transforming Astro into a cloud, mobile-first and analytics-driven digital content organisation.
Rohana said: "The business that we built at Astro over the years is attributable to one thing — the passionate, committed and talented individuals that make up Team Astro. It is my honour to have been part of this amazing team, moving as one, to achieve far more than I ever dreamt possible in a fast-evolving and dynamic industry. As Team Astro, our passion has always been to better serve our customers, which has been our privilege and our continued responsibility."
Meanwhile, Astro chairman Tun Zaki Azmi said: "Dato' Rohana has been an inspirational leader to all at Astro, having led the team in setting many firsts and milestones for the media industry in Malaysia. We respect her decision to step down as group CEO and wish her all the very best and a bright future ahead."
PETALING JAYA: Astro Malaysia Holdings Bhd (Astro), which is the subject of speculation that it may be taken private, announced a succession plan that will see group chief content and consumer officer Henry Tan take the helm from Datuk Rohana Rozhan from end January next year.In an announcement this morning, Astro said Rohana, who has been with Astro for 20 years, has given notice of her resignation to take effect from Jan 31, 2019.“Rohana has been an inspirational leader to all at Astro, having led the team in setting many firsts and milestones for the media industry in Malaysia. We respect her decision to step down as group CEO and wish her all the very best and a bright future ahead,” said the chairman of Astro, Tun Zaki Azmi in an announcement to Bursa.Notwithstanding her resignation as group CEO, on 31 January 2019, she will remain on the board as a non-executive director.“The business that we built at Astro over the years is attributable to one thing – the passionate, committed and talented individuals that make up Team Astro. It is my honour to have been part of this amazing team, moving as one, to achieve far more than I ever dreamt possible in a fast-evolving and dynamic industry. As Team Astro, our passion has always been to better serve our customers, which has been our privilege and our continued responsibility” said Rohana.According to the announcement, during Rohana’s tenure as CEO, Astro’s customer base grew from two million to 5.5 million, while revenue grew RM1.79bil to RM5.53bil for the financial year ended Jan 31, 2018.Henry Tan has been with Astro for more than 10 years and will lead Astro as it faces challenges from cheaper alternatives such as over-the-top (OTT) service providers such as Netflix and dimsum.Trading in Astro’s shares was halted between 9.38am and 10.38am today in view of the announcement.Two days ago, a wire report stated that Astro was a privatisation target by its major shareholder T Ananda Krishna. The stock price went up on the market talk but has since retreated. Kenanga Research said in a report today that Astro’s management has clarified that it has not received confirmation of any privatisation proposal.At 12.10pm, Astro was trading 10 sen or 5.5% lower at RM1.73 with 6.6 million share traded.
She will be replaced by chief content and consumer officer Henry Tan.
PETALING JAYA: Rohana Rozhan has resigned as CEO of Astro Malaysia, effective Jan 31, 2019.
Rohana, who had been with Astro Group since 1995, will be replaced by chief content and consumer officer Henry Tan.
In a statement, Astro said Rohana would remain on the board as a non-executive director.
“Rohana has been an inspirational leader to all at Astro, having led the team in setting many firsts and milestones for the media industry in Malaysia.
“We respect her decision to step down as group CEO and wish her all the very best and a bright future ahead,” said Astro chairman Zaki Azmi.
