By Gianluca Lo Nostro
(Reuters) -Belgium’s Proximus will consider internal and external candidates for its next CEO after current head Guillaume Boutin announced his unexpected departure to join Vodafone, the telecoms group said on Friday.
It is unlikely that the nomination process will end before Boutin leaves on May 15, the company said, adding that interim leadership will be decided by the board soon.
The former phone monopoly, majority-owned by the Belgian government, is entering the final stage of a 3-year strategy plan to boost domestic growth and fibre rollout, with its shares trading at record lows.
Boutin, who will lead Vodafone’s Investments and Strategy arm, defended his strategy for Proximus in a heated parliamentary hearing requested late last year to address criticism of his leadership.
N-VA, the right-wing party of new Belgian Prime Minister Bart De Wever, has been one of the most vocal critics of Proximus’ current leadership.
The company posted a 10.2% quarterly growth in group revenue on Friday, slightly above expectations, and met its target of bringing back annual core profit to 2022 levels.
However, the carrier is being challenged by the recent introduction of a fourth operator in its home market, Romanian firm Digi, which offers mobile plans that cost about one-third less than Proximus even with more data.
“While we acknowledge the headwinds linked to the new market structure, we consider ourselves very well positioned to compete thanks to the investments in our networks, brands, convergent offers and customer satisfaction,” Boutin said in an earnings statement.
(Reporting by Gianluca Lo Nostro; Editing by Christopher Cushing and Janane Venkatraman)
