Telkom slides on talent 'exodus'

Johannesburg - Shares in telecommunications group Telkom [JSE:TKG] continued to slide on Wednesday, following Tuesday's announcement that company CFO Peter Nelson planned to resign.

Nelson's announcement gave fresh life to rumours of conflict between the Telkom board and its senior management, first sparked when CEO Reuben September announced his resignation in June.

Telkom shares were down 2.12% to 3 285 cents per share on the day following a 3.4% drop on Tuesday, and amid signs the share could come under further pressure.

Vestact's Sasha Naryshkine said that Telkom was looking less appealing to investors.

"I often look at the shareholders and the willingness of the board to work with those shareholders strategically," he said.

"We have always maintained that the company looks cheap for a reason. There is a failure to execute and (they) seemingly have a government type mentality to failure just to shrug their shoulders," he said.

Naryshkine said the share is generally avoided by his company's investors.

Rumours of board clashes

Nelson's resignation is the latest in a series of executive departures, described in the media as "an exodus". These include Thami Msimango, MD of Telkom International, and the company's former head of strategy, Naas Fourie.

Telkom's September was scheduled to leave in November when his contract would have expired, but he decided to depart in July citing health concerns.

Nelson was widely quoted on Wednesday as saying that he felt frustrated at the current status quo at Telkom. Some analysts speculated his problems centred on the group being run by its board of directors, with chairperson Jeff Molobela at the helm. This follows earlier rumours of clashes between September and the board.

Molobela was appointed non-executive director and chairperson of the Telkom board in November 2009. The company is 39% owned by government, and Molobela's appointed is considered to have been political.

Jeffrey Hedberg, former CEO of cellular provider Cell C and Telkom's Nigerian company Multi-Links, has been appointed as interim CEO of the group until a permanent replacement for September is announced.

 - Fin24.com