KUALA LUMPUR (Oct 21): Dagang NeXchange Bhd (KL:DNEX) said it has appointed Faizal Sham Abu Mansor as its group chief executive officer effective Nov 1, succeeding executive chairman Tan Sri Syed Zainal Abidin Syed Mohamed Tahir Jamalullail in leading the company's management team.

Syed Zainal Abidin, 62, will continue to lead the management team until Dec 31, after which he will be redesignated as non-executive chairman, the company said in a statement on Monday.

Faizal, 53, previously served as chief financial officer (CFO) at Malaysia Airports Holdings Bhd (KL:AIRPORT), where he received multiple accolades for his leadership, including best CFO in Malaysia, DNeX noted.

Faizal had also served as CEO of Astro Productions and Astro Awani for three years. Most recently, he served as executive director and group CFO at Vantage Energy Group from 2021 to 2024.

“We are confident that Faizal’s expertise and proven track record will be able to drive the group’s growth and expansion journey with an added focus on increasing cross-selling within the group, leverage on the recent partnership with global players such as Google and internal realignment to focus on cost efficiency, improving profitability and ensuring sustainable return to shareholders,” said Syed Zainal Abidin in the statement.

DNeX shares closed half a sen or 1.39% lower at 35.5 sen, valuing the company at RM1.23 billion.