BERNARD Emby resigned as non-executive, non-independent director from Catalist-listed TrickleStar : CYW 0% on Thursday (Jan 18), citing &ldquo hostile board dynamics&rdquo .

 

He said the board&rsquo s vision and actions were &ldquo incompatible&rdquo with his principles, and did not serve the long-term interests of shareholders, in his opinion.

 

&ldquo Hostile board dynamics, combined with board policies and actions, impeded my ability to fulfil my responsibilities as a director,&rdquo he said. He was the company&rsquo s chief executive officer before resigning from the post in November 2022 he then resigned as the company&rsquo s executive chairman the following month.

 

The TrickleStar board said it was unaware of any hostility during meetings. It added that it &ldquo always encouraged open and frank discussions&rdquo , and had invited him to all board committee meetings.

 

&ldquo As far as the board is aware, Mr Emby has enjoyed equal access to information as any other director should have, to enable him to fulfil his director responsibilities.

 

&ldquo Since Mr Emby gave up his roles as chairman and CEO, his opinions were, on many occasions, contrary to the final board decisions, but he was always given the opportunity to speak and air his views, and those views were considered before any decision was made.&rdquo

 

The board added that before Emby&rsquo s resignation as CEO, he led the company on an &ldquo ambitious&rdquo programme of new product development, which went sour as a result of challenges, including the Covid-19 pandemic.

 

The board said it undertook a review of those developments in mid-2022 because they were straining the company&rsquo s resources it then took &ldquo the very tough decision&rdquo to terminate the development of some of those products, while continuing to focus on its core ones.

 

It noted that board decisions, including those on the company&rsquo s vision, direction and strategy, were made after consideration of Emby&rsquo s objections, as well as the interests of the company and its shareholders.

 

TrickleStar was founded in 2018, and listed on the local bourse&rsquo s junior board the following year. It was marginally in the black, with net profits of US$0.2 million in FY2019 and US$0.7 million in FY2020. The group ran up a US$2.4 million loss in FY2021, but swung back into the black in FY2022 with US$0.2 million in net profit.

 

According to its latest financials as at end-June 2023, the energy-saving device maker&rsquo s first profit for the first half of FY2023 stood at US$47,176, significantly higher than US$4,333 in the year-ago period.

On Dec 13, TrickleStar e : CYW 0%xecutive director and CEO Bernard Emby acquired 342,713 shares in a married deal with a consideration of S$68,543, at 20.0 Singapore cents per share. He has tendered his resignation as the CEO of the Company with effect from April 28, 2023. Emby maintains a 42.10 per cent interest in the Catalist-listed company. He is a highly experienced entrepreneur and electrical industry expert with over 20 years of experience in the utility and consumer industries.

Bernard Emby, the CEO of Malaysia-based, Singapore-listed TrickleStar, has tendered his resignation. He is currently serving his notice period till April 28 and will remain as the executive chairman of the board till his departure.

 

Before Emby&rsquo s replacement comes on board, Gunananthan Nithyanantham, the company&rsquo s executive director and chief operating officer (COO) will take on the additional role of acting CEO with effect from Nov 1.

 

According to a bourse filing on Nov 1, Emby&rsquo s resignation comes as the company wishes to &ldquo pursue a business strategy that is less capital intensive and that prioritises risk reduction versus growth in uncertain market conditions&rdquo .

Emby, on the other hand, wishes to seek opportunities which align more with his skills in product development and growth in cleantech and renewable energy solutions, adds the company via its Nov 1 statement.