Newly appointed EverythingEverywhere chief Olaf Swantee is betting on new blood to carry the firm forward, announcing a new ten-member management team he hopes will help address falling earnings in the first half.
Richard Moat, deputy chief and CFO, is one of six executives culled as Swantee seeks to simplify the running of the firm by cutting the number of managers. The new boss took control yesterday after his predecessor Tom Alexander resigned.
“The structure of the team is function oriented with clear accountability so we can accelerate the execution of our key plans and priorities,” Swantee states.
One of those “key plans” will be to address declines in first half earnings that saw the firm’s EBITDA margin fall from 18.2% in 1H10 to 17.3% in 1H11. The figure is a key element in EverythingEverywhere’s mid-term goals, with Swantee committing to previous targets of generating a 25% margin by 2014.
EBITDA itself fell from £632 million ($1 billion) at end 1H10 to £582 million this year, and turnover from £3.47 billion to £3.36 billion year-on-year.
The firm – a joint venture combining Orange and T-Mobile UK’s businesses – is also banking on a stronger lineup of mobile handsets to boost income. It recently appointed seasoned handset portfolio manager Nicola Shenton as its device director, with a remit to source innovative units and give them a suitably high-profile launch.
Swantee is an Orange stalwart who is credited with turning around its UK business once before, and generally beefing up its European operations.