
Vodafone Group CEO Vittorio Colao is calling it quits and stepping down in October.
The veteran leader, who took the reins back in July 2008, will be replaced by his CFO Nick Read.
Vodafone said it had โconducted a succession planning process that involved the detailed assessment of potential internal and external candidatesโ.
It credited Colao, who first joined Vodafone as CEO for South Europe, the Middle East and Africa in 2000, with transforming the business from โa consumer-focused 2G/3G mobile operator to one of the worldโs leading converged communications companiesโ.
During his tenure, Vodafoneโs mobile customer base has almost doubled from 269 million to 536 million in over 25 countries.
Its more recent focus on broadband has seen it acquire 19.7 million such subscribers.
Vodafoneโs share price has grown from ยฃ1.75 to ยฃ2.10.
The news came as the operator revealed a profitable set of financial results for the 12 months to 31 March.
After registering a net loss of โฌ6.1 billion last year, Vodafone made a profit of โฌ2.9 billion this time around on revenues that dipped 2.2 percent to โฌ46.6 billion.
Profitability in both years was impacted by the changing value of the companyโs opco in India where Reliance Jio has shaken up the market.
Vodafone said its ongoing attempts to merge with Idea Cellular in the country were set to go ahead imminently.
[Read more: Vodafone CEO hails โpretty momentousโ merger in India]
Vodafone Group Chairman Gerard Kleisterlee said: โOn behalf of the Board, I would like to express our gratitude to Vittorio for an outstanding tenure.
โHe has been an exemplary leader and strategic visionary who has overseen a dramatic transformation of Vodafone into a global pacesetter in converged communications, ready for the Gigabit future.
โVittorio will leave as his legacy a company of great integrity with strong inclusive values that is exceptionally well-positioned for the decade ahead.โ
Kleisterlee described Read, who first joined the company as UK Finance Director in 2001, as the โco-architectโ of Vodafoneโs strategy.
โI am confident Vodafone will benefit greatly from his experience, insight and wisdom in his new role as Group Chief Executive,โ he added.
Deputy Group CFO Margherita Della Valle replaces Read as CFO.
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