Andy Penn

Telstra has announced that chief Andy Penn will retire after more than seven years in the role with current CFO Vicki Brady named as his successor.

Telstra is also finalising the acquisition of a 51 per cent stake in video aggregation company, Fetch TV and weighing up whether to progress with a public listing of its pay TV company, Foxtel (Telstra owns 35 per cent). For Australia, you can see that in the representation of female CEOs - we’ve still got a way to go. “We obviously invest a lot of capital in developing and building infrastructure and providing networks and technologies to customers, so making sure we get that focus and balance right to deliver world-leading technology ... at the right price, so we get the right return and can keep innovating and investing. But he has also struck major deals to boost the value of the company for shareholders. “She’s well known to the market, respected by investors and I think that natural succession also means that the strategy will remain largely unchanged.” Mr Penn joined Telstra in 2012 as chief financial officer and has been chief executive since 2015. “We are on the cusp of delivering T22, we have completed a very significant transformation, we have announced what comes next, and we have a very clear road map. “She has steered the company through a number of complex yet shareholder accretive transactions.” Telstra is one of Pengana’s biggest holdings. “We’re obviously heavily regulated as a telco and so ensuring there is some equity around [technology partnerships] is important. “Our industry is always at the forefront of things. Telstra shares closed down 0.8 per cent at $3.90, in line with a decline for the broader sharemarket. Currently Telstra’s chief financial officer, Ms Brady has also led the company’s consumer and small business operations and held senior roles at Optus.

Telstra CEO Andrew Penn will retire after seven years in the top job, the telco has announced, with chief financial officer Vicki Brady to take the reigns ...

That’s what I’m interested in,” Penn said at the time. “She has played a key leadership role in the development of Telstra’s T25 strategy and is well-placed to lead the company through its next phase. “We realise this is a material reduction from the historic level of our dividend and we do not underestimate the impact on our shareholders,” Penn said at the time. By 2017, $28.5 billion in Telstra value was gone — in part due to the bungled NBN network — and the telco was forced to cut its dividend for the first time since 1999. “In recent years, not only has Andy ensured the successful delivery of our T22 commitments, he has provided leadership at what has truly been an extraordinary time as we have navigated both as a company and a nation through the challenges of the pandemic,” Telstra chairman John Mullen said in a statement. Penn joined as CFO himself in 2012, and led the company through what it described as a time of “significant change” — not all of it good.

Back in October 2021, Telstra chairman John Mullen reassured investors chief executive Andy Penn had the complete support of the board.

Last year, Penn claimed he was dropping excess mobile data charges, improving customer service while making Telstra easier to deal with. Boost is also a major Telstra Wholesale partner. We had Telstra Health, his ill-fated attack on the NBN, and then there was M Wave for homes. The Chairman Mullen stuck with him and supported him, but he failed to convince other directors that his business plans would work.” There has been little if any really new initiatives from Telstra”, insiders told ChannelNews. Back in October 2021, Telstra chairman John Mullen reassured investors chief executive Andy Penn had the complete support of the board.

Telstra's incoming chief executive Vicki Brady has insisted she can generate growth at the telco despite significant strategic challenges, as investors ...

Telstra is also finalising the acquisition of a 51 per cent stake in video aggregation company, Fetch TV and weighing up whether to progress with a public listing of its pay TV company, Foxtel (Telstra owns 35 per cent). For Australia, you can see that in the representation of female CEOs - we’ve still got a way to go. “We obviously invest a lot of capital in developing and building infrastructure and providing networks and technologies to customers, so making sure we get that focus and balance right to deliver world-leading technology ... at the right price, so we get the right return and can keep innovating and investing. But he has also struck major deals to boost the value of the company for shareholders. “She’s well known to the market, respected by investors and I think that natural succession also means that the strategy will remain largely unchanged.” Mr Penn joined Telstra in 2012 as chief financial officer and has been chief executive since 2015. “We are on the cusp of delivering T22, we have completed a very significant transformation, we have announced what comes next, and we have a very clear road map. “She has steered the company through a number of complex yet shareholder accretive transactions.” Telstra is one of Pengana’s biggest holdings. “We’re obviously heavily regulated as a telco and so ensuring there is some equity around [technology partnerships] is important. “Our industry is always at the forefront of things. Telstra shares closed down 0.8 per cent at $3.90, in line with a decline for the broader sharemarket. Currently Telstra’s chief financial officer, Ms Brady has also led the company’s consumer and small business operations and held senior roles at Optus.

Brady is following the same path as Penn, who first joined Telstra as CFO in 2012 and was elevated to CEO in 2015. Penn's tenure as CEO coincided with the ...

Brady is following the same path as Penn, who first joined Telstra as CFO in 2012 and was elevated to CEO in 2015. Brady’s first joined Telstra in 2016 as group executive, consumer and small business, before assuming the CFO role in 2019. Telstra’s CEO of seven years Andy Penn is stepping down, with CFO Vicki Brady to take the role as of September 1.

Telstra's history and its capital-intensive sector means it's always a work in progress. But Andy Penn has provided his successor with a platform for ...

But Penn deserves credit for dragging this company into the future. It was at this time that Penn launched the T22 strategy. This was never Penn’s intention. Penn’s retirement is a surprise to both insiders and investors. Telstra’s recent history – first privatisation and then the effective nationalisation of a big chunk of its business – and the nature of the capital-intensive sector in which it operates, means it will be a work in progress for a long time yet. The point he wanted to get across in a world where connectivity and data is everything, was that Telstra had to do more than just provide the plumbing of a modern economy – it had to add value on top of that network layer. Perhaps the biggest change ushered in by T22 was to Telstra’s attitude, as Penn launched a dramatic push on digitisation, simplification and culture that was designed to rip out the last vestiges of Telstra as a government-owned corporation. And there’s the acquisition of Digicel in the Pacific region, which Telstra was towed into by the government in a highly unusual but attractive deal. Penn announced he would split Telstra’s fixed infrastructure into a separate business to give Telstra more flexibility around capital allocation and position the business for a potential demerger or to take on outside investment. A $3 billion plan to invest in Telstra’s core networks was announced in 2016, but it failed to resonate with the market and Telstra’s share price slumped from $6.24 at the start of Penn’s reign to $2.44 in June 2018. It took Penn some time to come up with the solution, and he would later admit Telstra was too slow to adjust to the arrival of the NBN. “We’re in a great place,” Penn said on Wednesday. “I am proud of the role I’ve played, and it’s the right time for me to hand over to Vicki.”

Telstra boss Andy Penn has quit, with CFO Vicki Brady replacing him as CEO from September 1. Penn has spent nine years at the company, with the last six ...

She has played a key leadership role in the development of Telstra’s T25 strategy and is well-placed to lead the company through its next phase. “She has made a significant contribution to Telstra including her work in developing our new go to market plans as part of the T22 strategy. “There is no doubt the strategy has delivered beyond expectations and has laid the foundations for Telstra’s recently announced T25 strategy and a renewed focus on growth and innovation.“

Telstra's boss for the last seven years Andy Penn is stepping down, with the company's head of finance Vicki Brady set to take the r...

“There’s no doubt the strategy has delivered beyond expectations and has laid the foundations for Telstra’s recently announced T25 strategy and a renewed focus on growth and innovation," Mullen said. Penn’s tenure as CEO coincided with the existential challenge of losing the bulk of Telstra’s fixed-line business to NBN Co, turning the telco into a reseller of broadband as it rolled out 4G mobile services and charted the migration to 5G. She will be based in Sydney.

Telstra chief executive Andrew Penn will be stepping down from the top job later this year after more than seven years in the role.

She joined Telstra in 2016 and has been the chief financial officer since 2019. Telstra chief executive Andrew Penn will be stepping down from the top job later this year after more than seven years in the role. Telecommunications giant Telstra has revealed there will be a new boss later this year after the long-time chief executive announced his resignation.