KUALA LUMPUR, Sept 11 — Datuk Seri Shazalli Ramly has denied that he will leave telco firm Celcom Axiata Bhd to lead the ailing Malaysia Airlines (MAS) to profit again.

Shazalli, who is Celcom’s chief executive officer, dismissed speculation that he would take over from current MAS chief executive officer Ahmad Jauhari Yahya as “completely untrue”.

“No one called me. It was the media that first alerted me about this,” Shazalli was quoted saying yesterday by the Business Times.

“Maybe there are some discussions going on, but I am not aware of them and not in a position to make any comments,” he added.

According to the Business Times, Shazalli insists that he will remain at Celcom in the coming five years.

With Ahmad Jauhari’s three-year contract set to expire this month, speculation was rife regarding his possible successor.

But his contract will be extended until MAS finds someone to take up his position.

Shazalli was previously touted as the frontrunner to replace Ahmad Jauhari, based on his track record in turning around Celcom and close links to MAS’s main shareholder, Khazanah Nasional.

Two others who were speculated as being poised to take over as MAS chief - Pemandu chief Datuk Seri Idris Jala and Axiata Group Bhd chief executive officer Datuk Seri Jamaludin Ibrahim - have also dismissed the rumours.

Khazanah Nasional, which has previously injected RM7 billion into the airline, announced last month a RM6 billion restructuring plan that would involve re-establishing MAS in a new company by next July to regain profitability by the end of 2017.