Cable & Wireless announce management change.

Telecoms giant Cable & Wireless (C&W) has announced that its International Chief Executive Harris Jones has stepped down with no successor in place.

UK boss John Pluthero has been promoted to Executive Chairman of the international business – he will now run C&W’s operations while a replacement international chief executive is found. As Executive Chairman for the UK he already managed its business in Europe, Asia and the US operations.

Commenting on the announcement, Richard Lapthorne, Chairman of Cable and Wireless plc, said: “We are now at the stage where we need to accelerate the transformation of service and brand reputation, fuelling further growth in the value of International.

 “John Pluthero has an outstanding track record in this area and the capacity for the role, with the turnaround of Europe, Asia & US now out of the recovery phase, as evidenced by the strong interim results reported separately today and by having installed a strong management team, led by Europe, Asia & US Chief Executive Jim Marsh.”

Mr Jones will receive a £4.3 million bonus which he is entitled to according to Cable & Wireless’ Long Term Incentive Plan (LTIP) where reward is dependent on share price performance.

While he steps down from the board today, he will officially stay on at the company until the end of the year.

Mr Pluthero will inherit 50% of the remaining incentive plans units held by Mr Jones.

C&W also announced its interim results for the six months to September 30. Pre-tax profits rose 29% to £284m. Shares in C&W rose 4.1p in morning trading to 183.9p, a rise of 2.3%.

For more information, visit: www.cw.com.