BT Group PLC (LSE:BT.A)’s outgoing chief executive Philip Jansen failed to breathe "life back into BT,” according to AJ Bell’s Russ Mould.
“It’s still the slow, creaking juggernaut today that it was before he joined.”
“Earnings are forecast to go into reverse this financial year and show minimal progress over the following two years,” he pointed out.
“Shareholders have suffered big time: more than £10bn has been wiped off the value of the business under Jansen’s leadership, and BT is now nearly one-quarter owned by a French billionaire who has taken advantage of the weak share price to build a strategic stake,” he added.
Mould thinks to resign a mere four years into running one of Britain’s best-known companies would suggest Jansen “has had enough of the challenges that come with BT.”
“Most CEOs want to grow the company they are leading, but reviving BT has to be one of the least glamourous jobs going,” he reckons.
Matt Britzman at Hargreaves Lansdown said: “Whoever takes the hot seat at BT will be picking up the reins on a difficult transformation, but one that has some promise.”
“The wider strategy is unlikely to see any major changes, which involves the rapid buildout of the UK fibre and 5G networks, while significantly modernising and simplifying operations.”
Since joining BT, Jansen has attempted to re-shaped the company by announcing a reduction in the workforce by 55,000 employees by the end of the decade, and investing in high-speed broadband; setting a target of connecting 25 million homes by the end of 2026.
“Costs will likely be one of the first things on the docket when the seat has a new occupant. One thing’s for sure, there’ll be plenty of challenges to grapple with.”