TalkTalk chief executive to step down as third quarter revenue dips

TalkTalk's chief executive Dido Harding will step down from her role in May 2017 and will be replaced by Tristia Harrison, the current managing director of TalkTalk Consumer, the company said on Wednesday (1 February).

Harding, who has held the role for seven years, said the decision was motivated by a desire to lead her career down a different path.

"After seven extraordinary and fulfilling years, during which we have transformed TalkTalk's customer experience and laid the foundations for long term growth, I've decided it's time for me to start handing over the reins at TalkTalk and focus more on my activities in public service," she said.

Meanwhile, Charles Dunstone, the current chairman of Dixons Carphone, will assume the role of TalkTalk's executive chairman on 1 May, once he leaves his current position.

News of the reshuffle came as the FTSE 250-listed company revealed its third quarter revenue declined, on the back of high levels of re-contracting and re-pricing of its legacy tariffs. In the three months to the end of December, revenue declined from £459m ($576.3m) to £435m, although the company expects a better performance in its next financial year thanks to growth in net customer additions in the fourth quarter and lower churn.

TalkTalk added its full-year earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation guidance for the 2017 financial year remained unchanged and reiterated its final dividend will be flat year-on-year at 10.58p per share.

The telecoms group indicated the cyberattack that hit the company 18 months ago translated into £35m worth of one-off costs. In October 2015, hackers targeted TalkTalk's website and accessed the personal details of more than 157,000 customers, while the company lost more than 100,000 subscribers in the immediate aftermath of the cyberattack.