Toll issued an announcement that Michael Byrne will be stepping down as the Managing Director of Toll Group on 31 December 2019 and Thomas Knudsen will take over as the new Managing Director from 1 January 2020.
Mr Knudsen is currently President of Toll Group’s Global Forwarding division, which he began in January 2018. Originally from Denmark, Mr Knudsen has over twenty-five years’ experience in freight forwarding and contract logistics, including living and working across Asia, Australia, the United States, Europe and the Middle East. Mr Knudsen will continue to be based in Singapore.
Japan Post bought Toll for A$6.5 billion in 2015 but the Australian group subsequently incurred losses and the Japanese company was forced to take a A$4.9 billion write-down in 2017. Japan Post brought in a new management team and Toll returned to profit in 2018 after three years of losses but the 2018 results were boosted by property and equipment sales.