Network
Trujillo, who had agreed to stay until June 30, left after Australias largest phone company appointed an internal candidate to replace him, Melbourne-based Telstra said in a statement. Nerida Caesar will replace Thodey as head of the companys government and large business customers unit.
Thodey, 54, takes charge after the tenure of Trujillo and former chairman Donald McGauchie was marked by clashes with successive governments. New leadership may enable Telstra to participate in Prime Minister Kevin Rudds planned A$43 billion ($33 billion) Internet network that may make its own copper wire network redundant, analysts at Merrill Lynch & Co. said.
“With a new CEO and Chairman in place, the potential for a negotiated outcome has improved,” Alice Bennett, a Merrill Lynch analyst in Melbourne, said in a note to clients today.
Bennett, who rates Telstra shares “buy,” cut her price target 19 percent to A$3.50 today because she expects investors to price the stock “assuming the worst.”
Telstra shares rose 1 cent to A$3.21 at 10:18 a.m. in Melbourne, paring this years decline to 16 percent.
High-Speed Network
The government decided to build its own high-speed network on April 7 after disqualifying Telstra from bidding. The proposed Internet grid will provide access 100 times faster than currently available with the government currently considering how to implement its plan.
“It is still likely to be 6 to 12 months before the governments regulatory review and National Broadband Network implementation study are completed,” Merrills Bennett said.
Catherine Livingstone, whos been a Telstra board director since 2000, replaced McGauchie as chairman on May 8, the day Thodeys appointment was announced.
Stephen Conroy, Australias telecommunications minister, said on April 7 that Telstra would be offered a chance to participate in the state-led Internet project.
The phone operator is almost four years into Tujillos five-year plan to increase profitability by slashing as many as 12,000 workers and investing more than A$10 billion to upgrade its network to counter falling traditional fixed-line sales.