KEY POINTS:
Considering her position as boss of the company that dominates New Zealand's stock exchange, Theresa Gattung's resignation had curiously little impact on trade in Telecom shares yesterday.
Instead, investors focused on the latest in a string of disappointing results the company has produced in the past couple of
years of her stewardship.
Telecom shares closed down 7c at $4.85. That's little more than half their value when she took the job in October 1999, near the height of the technology boom, but above the 13-year low of $3.93 they sank to in the aftermath of the Government announcement of regulatory changes last year, which effectively put the skids under the company and Gattung's leadership.
Analysts said yesterday's fall in Telecom's stock was driven more by a lacklustre result than the resignation.
"It was at the bottom end of consensus, certainly below my numbers, and a key feature in it was that it was down both in New Zealand and Australia," said one.
ASB Securities head of research David Boyce said the market was unfazed by Gattung's departure.
"I don't think it was any great shock. I don't think it should have had any real impact.
"Aside from the fact it was leaked out a couple of days ago, soon after the [regulatory] debacle in May, Telecom said she would probably be around for another year or so and that's been exactly the case."
Another analyst, who did not wish to be named, agreed that the market had for some time regarded Gattung's departure as inevitable.
"The surprise will be who ends up taking the role and what sort of change that means to divestments versus acquisitions."
Forsyth Barr research manager Rob Mercer said Telecom's share price move was pretty small because the result was a little below expectations.
While "it probably is the right time for a fresh start with a new CEO", it was hard to judge Gattung's record as the company's leader, he said.
"Over the time Theresa has been CEO there have been dramatic swings in the telco and technology sectors. You had the heights in 2000-2001 and the lows last year.
"If you look at Telecom versus other global telcos, it's actually been quite a good performer, but when you look at Telecom versus itself from its peak, then it has been one of the worst performing companies in the market in the past five years.
"There have been mistakes made along the away and ultimately that's why a change is a good thing for the company."
Boyce agreed that Gattung's years with the company had been tough ones.
