Colt shares fall as chief quits

Shares in Colt Telecom have continued to drop today following the announcement on Tuesday that the company's chief executive intends to leave next year.

Colt, a provider of high-bandwidth, internet and voice services to European businesses, saw its shares fall by nearly nine per cent yesterday after Paul Chisholm announced his intention to quit.

Despite posting strong second quarter results, shares in the company fell by 191p to £19.65 by close of trading on Tuesday, and at 10.37am (BST) today were placed at £18.93.

Chisholm said in a statement that he has asked the board to begin the search for a replacement while he considers returning to his home in Boston.

"The company today is operationally and financially strong, and positioned extremely well for the future," he said. "I've asked the board to begin the search process now to ensure that we have ample time for a successor to be chosen and an orderly transition to be complete."

Colt said Chisholm, who has been in London for eight years, had agreed to remain a member of its board and will "continue to make his expertise available to the company following the appointment of his successor".

The provider announced that its turnover for the quarter was £151m. This is a 60 per cent increase over the second quarter of 1999 and a 14 per cent rise over the first quarter of this year. However, Colt's pre-tax losses amounted to £33.7m, up from £26.4m in the same period last year.

Colt's chairman Jim Curvey said: "Strong demand for our range of high-bandwidth data, internet and voice services, [combined with our] expanding product and service portfolio and extended market reach have all contributed to an excellent second quarter performance."

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