Singapore – The appointment of former vice president and chief financial officer Satpal Brainch as Singapore-based president and managing director CNBC Asia Pacific is not an indication of cost-cutting ahead, says a senior company spokesman. “Little significance should be read into Sat’s previous role as CFO” (in terms of belt-tightening at the network) “more should be read into his VP role as key strategist to Mark Hoffman,” the spokesman told Television Asia Plus. Since Mark Hoffman took over as president of CNBC in 2005, the network has seen consistent year on year growth, “and the plan is for continued growth,” said the spokesman. Hoffman made the announcement on Brainch’s appointment 1 June 2009, following the recent news that Jeremy Pink had been promoted to senior vice president business news at CNBC, effective 8 June 2009. “As CFO, Sat has been a critical strategic partner to me and CNBC’s senior leadership team,” Hoffman said. “He’s championed growth throughout the business and been a steadfast advocate for thoughtful investment in business news, digital products, long form programming and our international efforts. Sat has also worked closely with our commercial teams to support cross-regional ad sales, branded content deals and new brand-extending revenue streams. I am confident that Sat’s skills and experience, along with his intimate knowledge of the key attributes of the CNBC brand and the intricacies of all of our products and services around the world is the right combination of talents to continue the tremendous progress we’ve seen at CNBC in Asia.” Prior to joining CNBC, Brainch was vice president of financial planning and analysis for the NBCU TV Group, where he supported key initiatives across all NBCU TV platforms including network, cable, studios and distribution. He also spent six years in GE corporate finance where he had international roles in Japan, India, Brazil and Spain. There is speculation that Pink’s promotion primes him for eventually succeeding Hoffman as president, “But the same could be said of Brainch,” said a source, “and to our knowledge, Hoffman’s not planning to go anywhere anytime soon.”