The Telstra Corporation Ltd (ASX: TLS) share price is under the spotlight after the CEO Andy Penn decided to step down.
Telstra’s Andy Penn steps down
Mr Penn started at Telstra as the chief financial officer (CFO) in 2012 and has been the CEO for over seven years.
The new CEO will be the current CFO, Vicki Brady. She will take over on 1 September 2022 to ensure a smooth transition.
Telstra Chairman John Mullen said one of the main things that Andy Penn may be remembered for is the T22 strategy, which has seen Telstra return to underlying growth, achieve significant customer experience improvements, reduce costs by over $2.5 billion and reach high-performing employee engagement levels with over 17,000 people now working in agile teams across Telstra.
In the last year, the Telstra share price has risen 14%.
Mr Mullen said:
Andy has led Telstra during a period of significant change and will be known for his courage in setting a bold ambition through the T22 strategy to deliver a transformed experience for customers, shareholders and employees. There is no doubt the strategy has delivered beyond expectations and has laid the foundations for Telstra’s recently announced T25 strategy and a renewed focus on growth and innovation.
During his time as CEO, Andy has driven a focus on digitisation underpinned by a commitment to simplifying our products and services for our customers and employees. He has also maintained our leadership in networks, including recently through our investment to lead on 5G.
New CEO
The new Telstra CEO will get fixed remuneration of $2.39 million, as well as ‘variable remuneration’ if performance targets are achieved, or more if those targets are exceeded.
Ms Brady joined Telstra in 2016 and has held the role of group executive, consumer and small business in addition to her current role of CFO and group executive responsible for strategy, which she was appointed to in July 2019.
Mr Mullen said that she has already made a significant contribution to Telstra. According to Telstra’s Chair, she has played a key leadership role in the development of Telstra’s T25 strategy and is well placed to lead the company through its next phase.
Final thoughts on the Telstra share price
Telstra shares have done well over the last year and a half. Investors appreciate the turnaround. Andy Penn steered the ship through this turnaround, so his departure could be a significant loss for the company. But the new CFO has been part of the strategy-making and has been part of Mr Penn’s team for a while, so I think the T25 strategy will be fine.
I think Telstra will keep doing well, but there are other ASX dividend shares I’d rather focus on.
