The Wall Street Journal-20080125-Sprint Reshuffles Top Management
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Sprint Reshuffles Top Management
Sprint Nextel Corp. announced the departure of three senior executives, including the finance chief, as the new chief executive, Dan Hesse, moves quickly to put his stamp on the wireless-phone company.
Sprint said Paul Saleh, its chief financial officer since 2001, would leave today. Chief Marketing Officer Tim Kelly and Mark Angelino, president of sales and distribution, are also departing.
Sprint has been losing wireless customers to rivals while sales have been falling. Analysts say the Reston, Va., company's problems stem from poor customer service, excessive reliance on customers who are poor credit risks and a muddled marketing message, among other things.
Mr. Hesse said he would "act as quickly as possible" to fill the positions on a permanent basis with internal or external candidates.
In the interim, Sprint named William G. Arendt, 50 years old, as acting finance chief, John Garcia, 53, as acting chief marketing officer and Paget Alves, 53, as acting president of sales and distribution.
The executive reshuffle represents Mr. Hesse's second major move in a week. Last Friday, Sprint said it would eliminate 4,000 jobs, or nearly 7% of its work force, and close 8% of company-owned retail stores.
The layoffs and closures dovetailed with news that Sprint lost a net 109,000 subscribers in the fourth quarter, including the defection of 683,000 postpaid customers. Postpaid customers, who sign up for annual plans and pay at the end of each month, are considered the most valuable in the industry. Sprint's losses in that category total more than 1.7 million customers during the past six quarters.
The loss in postpaid subscribers sent Sprint shares as much as 25% lower on the day of the announcement. Sprint's share price was up 37 cents, or 4.2%, to $9.09 yesterday in 4 p.m. New York Stock Exchange composite trading.
Sprint ended 2007 with 53.8 million wireless customers, just above the 53.1 million it served at the end of 2006. Sprint expects to report full fourth-quarter results on Feb. 28.
The company's poor performance led to the ouster of CEO Gary Forsee in late October. Mr. Hesse, a longtime telecommunications veteran, was hired two months later. Mr. Hesse had been CEO of Embarq Corp., a local phone company spun out of Sprint in 2006.
