Vodafone Moves to Strengthen European Operations with 2 New Chiefs
June 28 2012 - 6:02AM
Dow Jones News
Vodafone Group PLC (VOD.LN), the world's biggest mobile operator
by revenue, Thursday moved to strengthen its beleaguered operations
in Europe by appointing two chiefs to oversee its biggest
market.
Nearly two months after losing its European chief executive,
Michel Combes, to French telecom and media company Vivendi SA's
(VIV.FR) mobile unit SFR, Vodafone had decided to split the role in
Europe into two new operating regions, Northern & Central
Europe and Southern Europe.
Philipp Humm--who resigned 24 hours earlier as CEO of T-Mobile
USA, a unit of Germany's Deutsche Telekom AG (DTE.XE)-- has been
appointed CEO of Vodafone's Northern & Central Europe business,
overseeing operations in Germany, the U.K., the Netherlands,
Turkey, Ireland, Hungary, the Czech Republic and Romania.
Vodafone's CEO in Italy, Paolo Bertoluzzo, has been given
additional responsibility as CEO of the mobile operator's Southern
Europe operations, which includes Italy, Spain, Portugal, Greece,
Albania and Malta.
Chief Executive Vittorio Colao said in a statement that the new
regional structure "will underpin our strategy focused on meeting
our customers' long-term needs", and that both men will be "strong
additions" to the Vodafone Group Executive Committee.
Mr Humm will start in his new role on Oct. 1, and Mr
Bertoluzzo's position is effective from Aug. 1.
Vodafone last month booked a 13% fall in annual net profit to
6.96 billion pounds ($10.82 billion) as dismal economic conditions
in Spain, Italy, Greece and Portugal hit customer spending there,
prompting a GBP4 billion impairment charge. The U.K.-based operator
also warned at the time that conditions in Europe are likely to
remain grim for the rest of the year.
Write to Lilly Vitorovich at lilly.vitorovich@dowjones.com;
Twitter: @LillyVitorovich