Surprise as Colt chief steps down
TELECOMS group Colt today surprised investors by announcing the departure of the chief executive who led it through the technology downturn.
The London-based firm, which specialises in providing telecoms services for the business sector, saw its shares fall 3 1/4p to 82 3/4p after it said Steve Akin was leaving. He is to be replaced by former BT executive Jean-Yves Charlier.
The news comes just a day after the group revealed that underlying profits rose by 37% in the quarter to March 31.
Akin, who was appointed president and chief executive of Colt in July 2002, is on secondment from US mutual fund company Fidelity, which owns 56% of Colt.
The group said Akin would be returning to a new position at Fidelity in the US later this year.
Jean-Yves Charlier, who is also being seconded from Fidelity, previously spent 18 months with BT, including as chief of operations of global services.
Under Akin's leadership, Colt cut pre-tax losses before exceptional items to £134.7 million from £236.1 million during 2003.
The group, a former FTSE 100 star which suffered from the meltdown in the tech sector, cut its global workforce by 576 to 4,048 in the year to March as it trimmed operating costs. It employs some 1,000 staff at its head office in London and at network operations in Manchester and Birmingham.
