BT CEO reveals plans of stepping down

BT Group (LON: BT.A) is roughly flat on Monday after its CEO Philip Jansen revealed plans of stepping down within the next twelve months.

BT stock hasn’t performed well under Jansen

The announcement arrives shortly after the Chief Executive said the telecommunications company will cut up to 55,000 jobs by the end of this decade as Invezz reported here.

In his tenure, he also set in motion the roll-out of a national fibre network.

We’re investing heavily in future. We’re building like fury, have now passed over 11 million homes with fibre, have got 5G service to 68% of the country and our customer service is much improved.

Still, the BT stock hasn’t been able to perform well under his leadership. It has lost roughly 35% in the trailing twelve months. But in all fairness, part of the weakness has been related to the higher interest rate on £18.9 billion of debt the company has on its balance sheet.

BT has launched the search for a new CEO

On Monday, the board confirmed that it has already started looking for a successor.

Street expects Marc Allera (BT’s head of consumer brands) or Allison Kirkby (a BT board member) to replace Jansen. According to analysts at JPMorgan, though:

We suspect investors will find this transition a little premature given the fruits of BT’s fibre investments have still yet to be proven out.

In May, the British multinational reported a 1.0% hit to its revenue for the full year to March 31^st, 2023. Still, billionaire investor Patrick Drahi recently increased his stake in BT stock to about 25% (read more).