PRIVATE cord-blood bank Cordlife’s group chief executive officer Yiu Pang Fai, 35, has tendered his resignation “to pursue other opportunities” and its board of directors has accepted his decision.
His effective date of cessation will be Feb 28, 2025, Cordlife said in a Wednesday (Feb 12) bourse filing.
The group has commenced the search for a new group CEO and said it would make an “appropriate announcement” when one is appointed.
Cordlife said: “Yiu informed the company that he has resigned as the group CEO… (he) will remain available to facilitate a smooth handover of remaining responsibilities.”
It added: “The board wishes to put on record its appreciation for Mr Yiu’s contribution during his tenure.”
He was appointed as Cordlife’s group CEO around a year earlier on Feb 19, 2024.
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The company disclosed then that his brother Yiu Ming Yiu – who was previously arrested by the Commercial Affairs Department and then released on bail – is a non-independent, non-executive director of Cordlife. His father Yiu Chi Shing and his mother Lui Yim Sheung are deemed interested in Cordlife shares held by TransGlobal Real Estate Group, a controlling shareholder of the healthcare group.
Yiu Pang Fai was formerly an executive director of TransGlobal’s family office division in Hong Kong prior to his appointment as Cordlife’s group CEO.
In November 2023, Cordlife was slapped with a six-month suspension from the Ministry of Health (MOH) after a check uncovered lapses in the storage of its cord-blood tanks. The company was barred from collecting, testing, processing and/or storing new cord blood and human tissues for six months.
The lapses sparked a spate of leadership changes and arrests over the following months as Cordlife shares plunged and dropped as much as 42.9 per cent on Dec 1, 2023. In May 2024, the company’s suspension was extended by up to an additional three months following further inspections by MOH in April and May.
In June 2024, the company reported a net loss of S$11.6 million for its first quarter ended March 2024, reversing from its S$1.2 million net profit for the year-ago period.
In August 2024, MOH issued a notice allowing Cordlife to resume cord-blood banking services with restrictions from Sep 15, 2024, to Jan 13, 2025. Under the restrictions, the company could not collect, test, process and/or store more than 30 units of new cord blood each month for the period.
On Jan 14, Cordlife announced that MOH had renewed its operation licences for one year with immediate effect. The ministry said the company had satisfactorily addressed key shortcomings and that it would closely monitor its governance and practices.
Shares of Cordlife closed unchanged at S$0.159 on Wednesday, after the announcement.
