Vocus engaged in a ‘two to three year turnaround,’ CEO says

Kevin Russell

Vocus Group managing director and CEO Kevin Russell says the telco is engaged in a “two to three year turnaround,” with the telco eliminating short-term incentives for its executive team.

“We’re clear that there’s a need for immediate and significant change” at Vocus, the CEO said.

“There is no question there have been missteps  and as a company we haven’t executed well enough on the opportunity in front of us,” Russell told a full year results briefing.

Vocus reported an underlying net profit after tax of $127.1 million — down 16 per cent on the prior year.

Revenue grew 4 per cent to $1.9 billion in the 12 months to 30 June, while earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation grew 7 per cent to $360.4 million.

Over the last few months Vocus has undertaken a “major reset” across its board, leadership and strategic priorities, Russell said.

Russell joined Vocus in May, replacing Geoff Horth. The former CEO departed earlier this year after a series of disappointing results for the group, whose brands include Commander, Dodo and iPrimus.

Russell said that Vocus had made good progress on renewing its leadership in a short period of time, including his appointment in late May. “Just three months on effectively there’s been five new appointments into the team,” he said. In January the telco announced a restructure that has seen a significant reshuffle of its executive ranks.

Russell said that Vocus’ primary focus going forward is growth.

“Our market share is low relative to our fibre and network infrastructure assets,” the CEO said in a statement.

“Our priority is to leverage these assets to maximise profitable growth within our core Australian and New Zealand infrastructure focused businesses. Our target is to double revenue from these businesses over the next five years.”