Telenor said it has appointed Jorgen C Arentz Rostrup to lead a unified Asian business from 01 May and named Tone H Bachke to succeed him as group CFO from the same date. Uniting the markets in Asia as a single unit will strengthen Telenor's focus on growth and modernisation and position it to capture opportunities in the region, it said. Bache moves to her role as CFO from her current position as head of group treasury.
Telenor group president and CEO Sigve Brekke said Asia remains a growth engine for the group. The development of the region has led to increasingly similar maturity levels across the markets, which has diminished many of the differences between Telenor’s two clusters.
Rostrup said there is great potential in bringing the Asian clusters together as one strong team. He will be based in a regional hub in Singapore and will work with the CEOs of the five Telenor companies in Asia.
From 01 May, Digi CEO Albern Murty and Telenor Pakistan CEO Irfan Khan will step out of their current roles as heads of the clusters "Developed Asia" and "Emerging Asia" in group executive management but will remain CEOs of their respective companies.
Brekke said Murty and Khan had been "vital" to the development of their clusters, and under their management, Telenor now has strong Asian leadership represented in its Asian markets.
Telenor currently has 176 million mobile subscribers in Asia and the region accounts for 53 percent of group revenues. Grameenphone in Bangladesh has Telenor's largest customer base at 76.5 million.
Turning to Rostrup’s successor as group CFO, the operator said Bachke has proven herself a strong and results-oriented leader. She has extensive experience in financial management and value creation, gained in several industries and top management at an international company.
The operator said it held an extensive internal and external search for the right CFO. Bachke has previously been CFO at Kistefos, CEO of Implenia Norge, and held various senior management positions at the Aker Group.
Bachke will be based at the Telenor Group headquarters in Fornebu. Telenor has now initiated the process of recruiting her replacement as head of group treasury.
