Latest news with #BTGroup
Daily Mail
14 hours ago
- Business
- Daily Mail
BT nabs Virgin Media O2 finance chief Patricia Cobian as broadband customer losses slow
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. 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. 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. 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. 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.'
Yahoo
20 hours ago
- Business
- Yahoo
BT names industry veteran Patricia Cobian as first female CFO
(Reuters) -BT Group, Britain's largest broadband and mobile provider, named Patricia Cobian, currently with rival Virgin Media O2, as its first female chief financial officer on Thursday, succeeding long-time finance chief Simon Lowth. The change comes more than a year after CEO Allison Kirkby took the helm at BT amid a transformative plan set in motion by her predecessor Philip Jansen. Lowth, who became CFO in July 2016, played a key role in implementing the company's cost-cutting measures and sharpening its strategic focus. BT has been investing heavily in its British fibre network, which now covers more than 19 million premises. It also plans to cut more than 40,000 jobs and about 3 billion pounds ($4.07 billion) in costs by 2030, and possibly shed its foreign business to sharpen domestic focus. "(Cobian's) leadership, deep industry experience and knowledge will be invaluable, as we continue our once-in-a-generation upgrade of the UK's digital infrastructure and accelerate BT's modernisation," CEO Kirkby said in a statement. BT separately reported a 1% decline in first-quarter core profit, weighed down by falling legacy voice services and handset sales, which offset cost cuts and demand for its fibre broadband services. However, the company said it was on track to meet its full-year outlook. After serving as finance chief for Telefonica's UK mobile network O2 since 2016, Cobian moved into the same position at Virgin Media O2 in 2021, following the 50-50 joint venture between Telefonica and Liberty Global. Cobian will join BT next summer, coinciding with Lowth's retirement. The appointment was first reported by The Telegraph on Wednesday. ($1 = 0.7371 pounds) Error in retrieving data Sign in to access your portfolio Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data
Wall Street Journal
20 hours ago
- Business
- Wall Street Journal
BT Group Names Virgin Media O2's Patricia Cobian as CFO, Backs Guidance
BT Group BT.A -0.65%decrease; red down pointing triangle appointed Virgin Media O2's finance chief Patricia Cobian as its next chief financial officer. The U.K. telecommunications company said Cobian would join the group in the summer of next year to succeed Simon Lowth, who will be retiring after a handover. BT said it would announce a date for Cobian's appointment in due course.
Bloomberg
20 hours ago
- Business
- Bloomberg
BT Stems Broadband Losses as Network Investment Pays Off
BT Group Plc 's Openreach lost fewer customers than analysts expected as the telecommunications company's efforts invest in its network paid off. Openreach, BT's fixed network, lost 169,000 customers in the first quarter of fiscal 2026, the London-based telecom operator said in a statement on Thursday. That's about half the 356,700 customers that analysts had expected, according to data compiled by Bloomberg.
Yahoo
a day ago
- Business
- Yahoo
BT to appoint Virgin Media O2's Cobian as CFO, Telegraph reports
(Reuters) -BT Group, Britain's biggest broadband and mobile services provider, is set to name Virgin Media O2's chief financial officer, Patricia Cobian, as its first female finance chief, The Telegraph reported on Wednesday, citing unnamed sources. Cobian held the finance chief position at Telefonica's UK mobile network O2 since 2016, before transitioning to the same role at Virgin Media O2 following the completion of the 50-50 joint venture between Telefonica and Liberty Global in 2021. BT and Virgin Media O2 declined to comment on the report. Sky News reported on Monday that BT was looking for a new finance chief to succeed Simon Lowth, who will retire within a year. He was appointed BT CFO in 2016. Cobian would join BT at a time when it is looking to cut costs through layoffs and advances in artificial intelligence. "Depending on what we learn from AI . . . there may be an opportunity for BT to be even smaller by the end of the decade," Chief Executive Allison Kirkby told Financial Times in June. The company said in 2023 that it planned to cut as many as 55,000 jobs, including contractors, by 2030.
