Telstra’s first-half year financial announcement was overshadowed today by news that the operator’s CEO has resigned after four years at the helm. Sol Trujillo is to step down from 30 June and return to his native US. The announcement follows months of speculation about his position; a Financial Times (FT) report notes that Trujillo’s reign has been “marked by constant fighting with the federal government over how to regulate Australia’s telecommunications industry.” Trujillo played down his decision to leave the company early: “The results we have achieved together over the past four years make me incredibly proud,” he said in a statement. “Telstra is outperforming domestic and global peers in virtually every category. We are well positioned to hit the key transformation targets we set in November 2005 and I have every confidence that Telstra will continue to deliver world-leading results for shareholders.”

Telstra Chairman Donald McGauchie singled out Trujillo’s efforts in building the operator’s nationwide HSPA network: “The Next G network is undeniably the world’s best national mobile broadband network and stands as Sol’s crowning achievement.” Telstra’s Board is now looking for a replacement and expects to make an appointment by 30 June 2009. The FT report notes that two internal candidates have been widely tipped as possible replacements for Trujillo; finance chief John Stanhope and David Moffat, group managing director of consumer marketing and channels. Meanwhile, the operator today reported a 1 percent drop in first half net profit to AUD1.92 billion (US$1.24 billion) and forecast lower growth in earnings to between 3 percent and 5 percent.