Allison Kirkby's appointment comes weeks after BT shareholders faced an uprising over concerns that she held too many positions in the board of directors. Credit: TT NEWS AGENCY/REUTERS
Allison Kirkby disappointed almost everyone the day she was announced as BT CEO.
Shares of her current employer, Swedish telecommunications company Telia, not only fell 4.5%, but were also negatively received by BT investors, who cut the shares 1.8%.
Despite Kirkby's wide viewed as a candidate, Kirkby's ascent was also met with the same lack of enthusiasm by some within BT. Most expected Mark Allera, the beloved head of the consumer department, to take a step forward after his success in improving bad customer service rates.
Telecommunications experts in the City of London were also surprised, given that Kirkby's career has what some consider a somewhat complicated history.
Now she faces the unenviable task of cutting tens of thousands of jobs as two major shareholders tighten control of the former monopoly.
Kirkby, at least, knows the area. Non-executive director of BT since 2019. She previously ran for CEO before being appointed to the post by Philip Jansen.
Sitting at the long dinner table in the BT boardroom earlier this month, Jansen was in a thoughtful frame of mind.
«I wouldn't say I'm leaving with my head held high because I see the stock price flashing red behind me, but I'll be happy with what I've done,” said the CEO, who is stepping down from one of the toughest jobs in the FTSE 100 in just five years.
Philip Jansen, who has led BT since the beginning of 2019, intends to step down from his leadership position. Photo: Hollie Adams/Bloomberg
Kirkby is well aware of how many stakeholders the BT boss has to satisfy in a sector that has become deeply unfashionable among investors. Prior to Telia, she held senior positions at the Danish company TDC and the Swedish mobile company Tele2, as well as at Virgin Media.
Like her two predecessors, Kirkby honed her marketing skills at consumer goods giant Procter & Gamble, where she was hired by former Sky boss Jeremy Darroch.
After a lengthy stay in Scandinavia, the 56-year-old Scot returns to the UK to become the first female CEO at the nearly 180-year-old BT. with a long history and one of 10 women to lead the FTSE 100 company.
Adam Crozier, Chairman of BT, describes Kirkby as «a proven leader with deep industry experience and a history of business transformation.»
Karen Egan, an analyst at Enders Analysis, says «she comes across as very smart, reliable and on track.»
However, Kirkby's tenure at Telia has been accompanied by investor anxiety, and her departure leaves the company with a gaping hole in its leadership after CFO Per Christian Mörland stepped down in March for personal reasons. It is said that other bosses in Sweden were outraged by her early departure.
In an interview earlier this month, she complained about the «short-term market focus» and insisted that Telia's share price would improve once it became long-term. -an urgent investment plan has begun to pay off — a defense that BT has often used.
But while all telcos struggle with fierce competition and rising infrastructure costs, analysts are raising concerns about Telia's aggressive use of supply chain financing during the Kirkby administration and the potential impact of rising interest rates.
Telia falls more than BT — Share price change from August 2021
In a statement, Telia Chairman Lars-Johan Jarnheimer said he regrets Kirkby's decision to step down, adding that she led the company at an «important and challenging time ”.
This appointment also came at the expense of Allera, head of consumer brands for BT EE and Plusnet, who was widely seen as the leader who succeeded Jansen. Having improved customer service and removed the weight of BT Sport with the sale of the US television network Discovery, its shares were strong.
Carl Murdoch-Smith, an analyst at Berenberg, describes Allera as a «favorite». for the role, adding that he «won't be surprised» if he decides to leave.
Egan says Kirkby's appointment «looks like a boardroom coup,» pointing out how quickly it followed Jansen's recent comments. that the race to deploy fiber optic broadband will «end badly» for BT's competitors.
She adds: «It's a bit like someone suddenly having a new girlfriend within a week of breaking up with their last one.»
Most importantly, though, BT's choice of CEO highlights the company's priorities. board of directors — and its shareholders.
Kirkby enters BT at a challenging time for the group, whose share price has fallen nearly 50% over the past five years, as it invests £15bn to upgrade its broadband network.
With a market value of just over £12bn, BT is now worth less than it paid to buy EE's mobile network in 2016.
Kirkby will be tasked with overseeing a fiber rollout program that aims to reach 25m premises by the end 2026 Her tenure will likely also be driven by AI developments, in which BT is likely to play an important role.
Another important feature of the job will be managing relationships with government, regulators, and unions—a stakeholder struggle that often got the better of Jansen. Philippa Childs, deputy general secretary of the Prospect union, wasted no time in saying that the new boss should invest in the workforce and continue to work with the unions.
But the most important thing will be the need to push through 55,000 people. job cuts required under BT's euphemistically named transformation plan.
French billionaire Patrick Drahi has become one of BT's largest shareholders and is seen as a potential takeover threat. from its two largest shareholders, French tycoon Patrick Drai and Deutsche Telekom, both of which are seen as potential takeover threats. cuts and raising the savings target to £3bn. Insiders claim that Drakhi pushed Jansen to cut deeper and accelerate change.
Kirkby said she «fully supports» BT's strategy, an apparent unity of direction that the company was quick to emphasize.
But it also means that the CEO, like many of her predecessors, may be powerless to make meaningful changes in clumsy behemoth.
«I think it's going to be pretty hard for her to put a special new seal on it because they're holding it up as the reason it's the way it is. She's got a great assignment because she's fully supportive of the strategy.» , says Egan.
So as the pool of potential fans fluctuates and BT seeks to cut costs, Kirkby's primary responsibility will be to restore the stock price and stay calm. While BT forges an unexpected path with her destination, the destination may end up being the same.
“The priority for BT is persistence, execution, staying on track with full fiber deployment and getting past the investment phase in return phase,” adds Egan. «A radical change in direction is definitely not required.»
Свежие комментарии