KEY POINTS:
Telecom today declined to discuss a news report that its chief financial officer, Marko Bogoievski, is out of the running for the company's top job.
A spokesman said the company was still working to a deadline of June 30 to announce a replacement for outgoing chief executive Theresa Gattung.
The Australian newspaper reported today that British Telecom executive Paul Reynolds was believed to be the front-runner to replace Ms Gattung.
It also said Telecom's well regarded chief financial officer Marko Bogoievski, who started the process as favourite, was not on the shortlist of two candidates.
While Telecom could not confirm whether Mr Bogoievski had applied, chairman Wayne Boyd said last month that he had compiled a comprehensive shortlist of external and internal candidates.
A more reserved character than the flamboyant and extroverted Gattung, Mr Bogoievski is respected by investors and analysts for his strong grasp of both financing and operations.
For a long time he has been regarded as one of the company's top strategists, with an MBA from Harvard University in the United States.
But The Australian said Mr Bogoievski was understood to have always placed conditions on whether he would accept the top job.
Mr Reynolds, who was also considered for the top Telstra job in 2005, was believed to have gained favour with the Telecom board because of his success in creating a separate networks division at the British telecommunications company.
This is the same challenge facing Telecom, after regulatory changes were announced by the Government last year that would see internal separation of the company into networks, wholesale and retail divisions.
The continuing search for a replacement for Ms Gattung, who stands down at the end of June, comes as the chief executive of Telecom's AAPT subsidiary moves to slash costs.
Paul Broad has cut a number of senior staff, including long-time regulatory chief David Havyatt, as he tries to chop 10 per cent off the AAPT's operating costs.
- NZPA
