BT Group has recruited Virgin Media O2 exec Patricia Cobian as its first female chief financial officer, taking the helm from long-serving Simon Lowth next year.
The FTSE 100 group told shareholders Lowth, who led the telecoms giant’s recent cost-cutting measures, will retire next summer following a managed handover.
Cobian will then join current chief executive Allison Kirkby, as part of an ‘orderly succession plan’.
Having served as finance boss of VMO2 since 2021, Cobain previously headed up O2’s finances since 2016.Â
She was a key player in the 2020 merger of O2 and Virgin Media.
BT boss Kirkby said Cobain’s ‘leadership, deep industry experience and knowledge will be invaluable’, as the group progresses with it upgrade of the UK’s digital infrastructure and accelerates its modernisation programme.Â
Cobian has been the finance boss of VMO2 since 2021, having previously headed up O2’s finances since 2016
BT Group shares responded well to the appointment, rising by almost 10 per cent by early afternoon on Thursday.
Matt Dorset, analyst at Quilter Cheviot, said Cobian ‘clearly knows the sector well’.
Kirkby said outgoing Lowth’s leadership ‘has played a major part in our strategy and transformation to date, as we become a better BT for our customers, our colleagues, the country and our owners.’
Separately, the firm posted a three per cent decline in revenue in the first quarter to 30 June, falling to £4.88billion from £5.05billion a year ago.Â
This lower revenue was mainly as a result of weaker handset sales, the BT said, as well as ‘challenging international trading’.
BT lost 169,000 broadband customers in its first quarter, though this was much lower than analyst expectations. It blamed the losses on a weaker broadband market.
‘The improvement in the quarter suggests these pressures may be starting to abate,’ Dorset said.Â
UK service revenue fell 1.4 per cent, while its business division saw revenue fall 5.6 per cent.
Dorset said: ‘The business division also remains the weak with legacy sales continuing to hurt. Consequently, earnings were down 0.5 per cent, but ahead of consensus, as BT impresses with its cost cutting, more than offsetting the National Living Wage and National Insurance increases, and Openreach remains strong.’
The firm plans to cut 40,000 jobs and £3billion in costs by 2030.
BT said it expects to meet its expectations for the full year, and is on track to hit five million full fibre installations this financial year.
Kirkby said: ‘BT has had a solid start to the year, with our full fibre broadband now reaching more than 19million homes and businesses and our 5G network available to over 87 per cent of the UK population. We’re seeing strong customer demand for our next-generation broadband and mobile connectivity across all our brands, with record Openreach fibre take-up again this quarter.
‘BT is investing more than anyone else in the nation’s networks, we’re connecting customers faster, and we’re on track to deliver our targets for this year, next year, and the end of the decade.’
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