Veon's CEO resigns, chairwoman to take over temporarily, COO named

Hutchison Telecommunications Hong Kong Holdings

27/03/2018 06:50

By Anthony Deutsch and Eric Auchard
    AMSTERDAM/LONDON, March 27 (Reuters) - Veon  VON.AS  Chief
Executive Jean-Yves Charlier resigned on Tuesday after three
years during which he led the company through a period of
upheaval and repositioned the telecom operator to become a new
internet services provider.
    Charlier's duties will be temporarily assumed by Veon's new
chairwoman, Ursula Burns, who formerly headed Xerox and was the
first African-American woman to head a Fortune 500 company.
Burns will step back from board duties at some other firms.
    Charlier steered the formerly Russian-based company known as
Vimpelcom through tough financial times and a name change to
Veon following a bribery scandal in Uzbekistan that was settled
with Dutch and American authorities in 2016 for $795 million.
    The now Amsterdam-based company said it was not changing its
2018 guidance for revenue, operating earnings and free cash
flow. It is scheduled to report first-quarter results in
mid-May.
    Charlier will not renew his contract when it expires at the
end of March, the company said. Burns, who praised Charlier for
putting the company on a stronger footing, is set to become
executive chairman and assume strategy and corporate duties
until a replacement is found.
    "I'll be able to lead the company through this phase with
some confidence," Burns said in an interview. "Now we have to 
look for growth and transformation. That's what we are doing."
    It also named Kjell Morten Johnsen as acting chief operating
officer, a newly created role, in charge of overseeing
day-to-day operations in the company's 12 major markets. A
Telenor veteran, he ran Veon's major markets in Russia and
Italy.
    Burns said the search for a new leader was underway and
would seek candidates in both the telecommunications and digital
technology industries. 
    "We want to make sure we have someone who can fit in well
and drive the type of expansion and transformation we are going
through," she said.
    Transforming Veon's core network infrastructure and billing
systems to become more digital, tailoring its Veon mobile
messaging app to conditions in specific markets and adding new
online services will remain top priorities in 2018, she said.
    Charlier's resignation comes five months after the departure
of Chief Financial Officer Andrew Davies, who left in September
to head Veon's Italian operations. He has been replaced by
Norwegian Trond Odegard Westlie, the former finance chief at
A.P. Moeller-Maersk  MAERSKb.CO  and Telenor  TEL.OL .
    A shake up under Charlier has trimmed thousands of jobs and
improved financial health, but its new flagship Veon app has
only been downloaded by roughly 8 million out of 240 million
customers. Veon's share price has fallen nearly 50 percent over
the past 12 months.
    "It has been a privilege to lead Veon through a critical
period in its history," Jean-Yves Charlier said. "The
transformation creates a solid foundation for a positive path
for the company in the years ahead."
    Veon's messaging app, which is designed to compete with the
likes of Facebook Inc's WhatsApp and Rakuten Inc's Viber, offers
free services to customers via its mobile network without data
charges.
    The app has been introduced in Russia, Georgia, Ukraine and
Pakistan since first being launched in Italy in late 2016. By
the end of 2018, the company plans to have made it available in
all its markets.

 (Reporting by Anthony Deutsch and Eric Auchard, editing by
David Evans)
 ((anthony.deutsch@thomsonreuters.com; +31205045003;))