KUALA LUMPUR (June 23): After much speculation in the past year over whether Vivocom International Holdings Bhd's CEO will stay or go, the construction company announced on Bursa Malaysia today that Datuk Seri Dr Yeoh Seong Mok is retiring, with immediate effect.

Yeoh, who has been instrumental in securing jobs from China Railway Construction Corp Ltd, was first appointed as joint CEO of Vivocom in November 2015, together with Anne Kung Soo Ching at the time. Kung has since retired in May 2016.

Yeoh's appointment came after Vivocom, then known as Instacom Group Bhd, upped its shareholding in Neata Aluminium (M) Sdn Bhd to 78.6%. Neata owns Vivocom Enterprise Sdn Bhd, a construction firm founded by Yeoh.

On June 27 last year, The Edge Weekly reported, citing a source, that Yeoh may retire early as he was "determined to go", and that it was just a matter of time before he tendered his letter to the board of directors.

But on July 18, Vivocom quashed rumours that Yeoh intended to leave the company and asserted that Yeoh has no intention to leave the company.

Vivocom has yet to announce a replacement for Yeoh.

Vivocom closed unchanged at 12.5 sen, giving it a market capitalisation of RM388.11 million.