(Associated Press via NewsEdge) New Zealand Telecom announced the resignation of its chief executive, overshadowing news that the company's half-yearly profit rose to NZ$452 million ($310 million).
Theresa Gattung will resign as CEO, effective June 30, after seven years at the helm of New Zealand's largest telco.
Company chairman Wayne Boyd said the search for a new chief executive would start immediately and include internal candidates as well outsiders from New Zealand and overseas.
The announcement came as NZ Telecom reported an improved fiscal first half net profit that was buoyed by the one-off sale of its majority stake in Telecom Samoa Cellular.
The carrier said a net profit for the six months ended December 31 of NZ$452 million ($310 million), compared to the NZ$466 million ($320 million) loss reported a year earlier.
The year-earlier result was hit hard by the write-down of the book value of the carrier's struggling Australian business, AAPT. Without the writedown, NZ Telecom would have reported a first-half net profit of NZ$395 million.
NZ Telecom said it expects to report a net profit in the 12 months ended June 30, 2007, of between NZ$875 million ($600 million) and NZ$895 million ($614 million).
Underlying earnings growth at NZ Telecom in recent quarters has been moderate, reflecting strong competition, declining fixed-line voice-based revenue and increased expenses at its fast-growing mobile, high-speed data and Internet-related operations.
Telecom faces further earnings pressure after the government passed legislation that will open its fixed-line local network to competitors early this year.
Gattung was perceived to have been caught off guard by the legislation, which was designed to put NZ Telecom on a more equal footing with its rivals and stimulate greater competition.
© 2007 The Associated Press
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