COURTS' Terry O'Connor steps down from group CEO role

Terry O'Connor (pictured), COURTS Asia's group CEO, will transition into an executive advisor role, effective 1 July 2019 and has also resigned from the board. This follows the completion of COURTS' acquisition by Japanese retailer Nojima Corporation, and as such, O'Connor has decided to relinquish operational responsibilities and support the group in an advisory capacity.Meanwhile, the group is currently "in advanced stages" of the hiring process for a new group CEO. As executive advisor, he will offer COURTS with oversight on stakeholder relationship management and the ongoing integration process.O'Connor has been with COURTS since 1993, starting out as buying director - electrical before rising to commercial director, deputy managing director and managing director. In April 2011, he assumed the role of CEO and has served as president director of PT COURTS Retail Indonesia since 2013.Under his 20 years of leadership, COURTS has undertaken a strategic transformation journey towards solutions selling, omni-channel retailing, driving market leadership in electrical, IT and furniture categories, transforming offline stores into experience centres for consumers as well as expanded into Malaysia and Indonesia.O'Connor said he is privileged to have led a "wonderful team" at COURTS in Singapore and Asia, through a period of transformation and growth. "We have achieved many milestones together and I feel extremely proud of leading such a talented team," he said.He added that having facilitated the ownership change for COURTS from COURTS Plc in 2004 to private equity owners and now to Nojima Corporation, it is an opportune time for him to transition into a different role with the company. The COURTS Asia Board also expressed its utmost gratitude to O'Connor for building COURTS into a leading household name and his support in the integration process.Last November, COURTS reported a 6.4% year-on-year (y-o-y) dip in revenue to SG$165.1 million for the second quarter ended 30 September 2018. Revenue was SG$165.1 million in Q2 FY18/19, a decrease of 6.4% from SG$176.4 million in Q2 FY17/18. Compared to Q1 FY18/19, revenue was down by 8.2% in Q2 FY18/19.Revenue from Singapore, which contributed to 72.4% of the group’s revenue, decreased by 4.8% yoy mainly due to lower earned service charge income and corporate sales. Revenue from Malaysia, which made up 23.7% of the group’s revenue, reported a 16.0% decrease in RM currency as compared to Q2 FY17/18.