TPSA sacks chief financial officer
"The dismissal may delay the long-awaited release of details about their (TPSA) restructuring plan"The supervisory board of Telekomunikacja Polska (TPSA) on Friday sacked Chief Financial Officer George Storozynski, raising fresh doubts over the future strategy of Eastern Europe's largest telecoms operator.TPSA spokesmam Witold Rataj said the board decided on the surprise move because Storozynski's "activities were not in line with the company's strategy approved by the management." No one has been appointed to the post for now, he saide
TPSA, which only appointed a new management board three months ago, is Poland's former state monopoly in which a controlling stake belongs to a France Telecom-led group. The company, seen as inefficient and overstaffed, needs to implement deep restructuring before Poland fully opens its telecoms market for competition from the start of next year. The dismissal comes as TPSA negotiates with its trade unions over a long-delayed overhaul plan, which envisages cutting 12,500 jobs, or 20% of its workforce, restructuring heavy debt and selling non-core assets.Since Telecom's consortium became TPSA's largest shareholder - increasing its stake last October to 47.5% - the group has been aggressively reworking its strategy, moving away from fixed line to focus on mobile business and data transmission. The telecom consortium has an option to gain a majority holding next year. The state still has 22.5%.
"Now a lot will depend on how long they will search for a replacement, but the dismissal may delay the long-awaited release of details about their restructuring plan," said Andrzej Kasperek, an analyst at Bank Handlowy brokerage.Storozynski is a Polish-American former investment banker, who worked for Société Generale and ING Barings in Warsaw. His straightforward approach was liked by financial investors but was not an asset during tough negotiations with labor unions.
"He did not know the strength of trade unions," a banker, who asked not to be named, said. "Now he found out that a banker's attitude doesn't always sit well in Polish corporate circles, especially in over-staffed firms like TPSA."
- Reuters
TPSA, which only appointed a new management board three months ago, is Poland's former state monopoly in which a controlling stake belongs to a France Telecom-led group. The company, seen as inefficient and overstaffed, needs to implement deep restructuring before Poland fully opens its telecoms market for competition from the start of next year. The dismissal comes as TPSA negotiates with its trade unions over a long-delayed overhaul plan, which envisages cutting 12,500 jobs, or 20% of its workforce, restructuring heavy debt and selling non-core assets.Since Telecom's consortium became TPSA's largest shareholder - increasing its stake last October to 47.5% - the group has been aggressively reworking its strategy, moving away from fixed line to focus on mobile business and data transmission. The telecom consortium has an option to gain a majority holding next year. The state still has 22.5%.
"Now a lot will depend on how long they will search for a replacement, but the dismissal may delay the long-awaited release of details about their restructuring plan," said Andrzej Kasperek, an analyst at Bank Handlowy brokerage.Storozynski is a Polish-American former investment banker, who worked for Société Generale and ING Barings in Warsaw. His straightforward approach was liked by financial investors but was not an asset during tough negotiations with labor unions.
"He did not know the strength of trade unions," a banker, who asked not to be named, said. "Now he found out that a banker's attitude doesn't always sit well in Polish corporate circles, especially in over-staffed firms like TPSA."
- Reuters
