For Chua Sock Koong, Singtel’s group chief, the salary package has come down nearly by half--from S$ 6.1 Mn last year to S$ 3.5 Mn this year. 

The company’s performance has suffered quite a bit this year, however, the organization has invested in digital transformation strategy, according to Singtel’s annual report. 

The full-year net profit fell by 21.4 percent Y-o-Y to about S$2.83 Bn. 

“Tougher industry and business conditions”, have resulted in a higher competition and disruption in the industry. Singtel’s leadership said they have plans for the fast-paced yet loss generating digital business. These plans include IPOs. The way forward for Singtel is going to be diversifying investments in new businesses that are equipped for the future of work. Business arms such as Trustwave which is the cybersecurity division and digital marketing units such as Amobee and Videology are examples of the types of businesses that are going to take the company into the era of digital transformation. 

“Your board is aware that the value of these investments is not being recognized in our share price and management intends to unlock this value at the appropriate time,” said Simon Israel, Chairman. 

Apart from the CEO’s wages, there are other areas that Singtel is eyeing in order to cut down on costs including staff expenses which were reduced by about 5.9 percent in the recent financial year. Moreover, the number of employees were reduced by 8.4 percent to 23,300 employees. 

Singtel hopes to save about S$490 Mn in FY 19-20 by incorporating automation in many of its processes and adopting digitalization into its daily workings. 

Other ways in which Singtel is trying to cut costs is to club together businesses, tap into venture capital funds in order to expand its digital business footprint and conducting other acquisitions. For example, in the latter half of 2018, Singtel combined its group-wise cybersecurity resources under Trustwave.