Shares in TPG Telecom Ltd (ASX: TPG) took a tumble today amid news the company's chief financial officer Stephen Banfield is heading for the door. By the market's close, the TPG share price had dropped 5.59% to $5.24.
Banfield's resignation comes barely a month after TPG founder David Teoh resigned, also sending the company's share price plummeting 6%.
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CFO resignation
Banfield was appointed CFO of TPG Telecom in August last year, having previously been the CFO of TPG's wholly-owned subsidiary, TPG Corporation – a position he held for 12 years.
The TPG share price has today followed the same pattern it did on 26 March when David Teoh stood down, a day it hasn't yet recovered from. Between Teoh resigning in late March and Banfield's resignation this morning, the TPG share price has dropped by around 18%.
The reason Banfield gave for his resignation was, after 20 years with TPG, he feels it's time to move on. He said:
It has been a great privilege to work for companies within the TPG group for the past 20 years and I am proud of what TPG has achieved over that time.
I look forward to working with [TPG Telecom CEO Iñaki Berroeta] and my team over the coming months to ensure a smooth transition.
Berroeta thanked Banfield for his service to the company, saying:
It has been a pleasure working with Steve during the merger integration [with Vodafone Hutchison Australia] and I thank Steve for his considerable contribution to the TPG business.
In particular, I thank Steve for his leadership in bringing the finance teams of TPG and VHA together as part of merger integration.
Banfield will remain as TPG's CFO until November unless a successor is found sooner. TPG stated that a replacement CFO will be announced in due course.
TPG share price snapshot
The news of another upper management resignation comes at a bad time for TPG shares, which are still struggling on the ASX.
Currently, the TPG Telecom share price is down 26% year to date. It's also down by around 40% since Vodafone and TPG merged, with the new telecommunication company relisting on the ASX in June 2020.
The company has a market capitalisation of around $10.3 billion, with approximately 1.8 billion shares outstanding.
