BT chair Jan du Plessis steps down to ‘focus on other interests’
BT chair Jan du Plessis will step down from the board less than four years after joining the telecoms firm.
The former Rio Tinto chair joined BT as a non-executive director in June 2017 and was appointed chair that November.
Prior to his role at the telecoms giant, du Plessis was chairman of SABMiller when it was bought by AB Inbev for £79bn in 2016.
The South African-born du Plessis said he intended to stay on as chair until his successor is appointed.
“”BT is a fantastic company and it is a huge privilege and responsibility to be its Chairman. But after 17 years of demanding roles as Chairman of significant FTSE companies, I know the time is now right for me to step down and focus on other interests,” du Plessis said.
“Until I hand over to my successor, I remain fully committed to BT and helping Philip continue to deliver for all our customers, colleagues and shareholders.”
BT’s revenue dropped to £16bn in the first nine months of the financial year, with profit plunging 17 per cent to just under £1.6bn. The group, which scrapped its dividend last May, placed most of the blame on the effects of the pandemic.
BT’s Openreach FTTP network now reaches 4.1m premises, with FTTP orders up in the third quarter as sales hit 17,000 per week.
Chief executive Philip Jansen has said he is “open minded” about offloading a stake in its infrastructure division Openreach. He said the division is an undervalued asset but would not sell it off completely.
“I’d like to personally thank Jan for both his service to BT but also his commitment and support to me since I joined. His wise counsel, in particular over the last year as we have led the company through the pandemic has been hugely appreciated,” Jansen said today.