CEO out at telecom giant

Wednesday, July 17, 2002 | 9:56 a.m.

FRANKFURT, Germany -- Shares in Deutsche Telekom rose today after the debt-laden German phone giant's chief resigned and the company pledged to pursue a "consolidation course" as it looks for a permanent replacement.

Telekom Chief Executive Ron Sommer quit late Tuesday under political pressure brought on by the slump in the company's stock, which was snapped up by some 3 million private investors in the last six years but has lost almost 90 percent of its value since a March 2000 peak.

Telekom shares surged by 9.8 percent by early afternoon today on the Frankfurt exchange.

But analysts have said they are waiting for more specific signs of a strategy to tackle Telekom's problems and boost its share price from company head Helmut Sihler, a 72-year-old Telekom insider appointed Tuesday to head Europe's biggest phone company for six months.

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