Telecom NZ announces new CEO
Telecom New Zealand has announced that the company's former chief operating officer Simon Moutter is set to return and replace Paul Reynolds as CEO from September this year.
Moutter left Telecom NZ in 2008 to take on the role of CEO for Auckland International Airport. Before his stint at Telecom NZ, he was CEO of Powerco.
The announcement comes over seven months since Reynolds announced he would leave the company following the separation of Telecom NZ from its wholesale and retail arms, to be known as New Telecom and New Chorus, respectively.
"The recruitment process has been extremely robust, conducted over a period of several months, and many high-calibre candidates were attracted to the role. Ultimately, the board was unanimous that Simon was the best candidate, and we are delighted to have secured his services," Telecom NZ Chairman Mark Verbiest said in a statement.
"Simon has a proven ability to lead companies in developing and delivering compelling services for customers," he added. "He was instrumental in the transformation of Telecom in the early 2000s, where the company pushed strongly into the IT services sector with the acquisition and expansion of Gen-i, the turnaround of Telecom mobile and the roll-out of nationwide broadband services."
Moutter said that he is looking forward to taking the helm of Telecom NZ following the demerger.
"I feel privileged to be selected to lead a resurgent Telecom as it reshapes for success in an even more dynamic communications services market post the demerger."
Moutter will start out with a base salary of NZ$1.35 million, with a short-term performance incentive of NZ$750,000, and NZ$600,000 in shares if he meets his targets set by the board.
"This package represents the market rate for a CEO position of this magnitude," Verbiest said.
"While Telecom is a smaller company than it was following the Chorus demerger, it retains a significant level of scale, challenge and complexity, and the package reflects that."
In the 2010-2011 financial year, the company reported that outgoing CEO Reynolds took home NZ$5.2 million.