Singer quits troubled Telewest

CABLE company Telewest's embattled chief executive Adam Singer has resigned. Telewest announced the decision late in the session, naming finance director Charles Burdick as Singer's successor.

Telewest is expected on Friday to reveal a second-quarter loss of up to £200m. The company has struggled under a £5.3bn debt mountain and the shares have collapsed from 563p at the peak of the telecoms boom in early 2000 to 2p, down from 2 1/4p, today.

The resignation is thought to have been triggered by a personality clash with the rest of the board. 'Given our current financial position, the independent directors believe the company needs a different management style to take the business through its next phase,' chairman Cob Stenham said in a statement.

It is not known if Singer will receive a pay-off. He was paid £780,000 last year, a 50% increase and famously spent £200,000 buying a 1928 Bentley.

He and three fellow directors were criticised earlier in the year when they received bonuses worth £690,000 for 2001, the year the shares began their freefall. The company is trying to negotiate a bond restructuring with Liberty Media, the investment vehicle of American billionaire John Malone.

It has 1.8m cable customers, making it the second-largest cable company in Britain after the equally troubled NTL. Singer became chief executive two years ago after Telewest acquired Flextech, the pay-TV company he then ran.

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