The top sales executive running one of MCI Inc.'s largest divisions resigned yesterday as the company struggles with rapidly eroding sales.
Cindy K. Andreotti, president of enterprise sales, quit after 14 years at the Ashburn company. Under Andreotti, MCI managed to retain its most lucrative business and government customers during its accounting scandal and the ensuing reorganization under Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection.
Meanwhile, Seth D. Blumenfeld, who heads MCI's international business, will retire at the end of the year.
MCI spokesman Brad Burns confirmed that Andreotti resigned yesterday but would not comment on her reasons for stepping down. Burns said Blumenfeld is retiring at end of the year after more than 30 years in the industry.
Burns said Andreotti's resignation and Blumenfeld's retirement are not related to the company's travails. "There is no correlation between these organization changes and our business results," Burns said. The company emerged from bankruptcy in April.
No replacements were named. Most of Andreotti's responsibilities will be folded into the company's U.S. sales division, run by Wayne E. Huyard, a 20-year MCI veteran, another spokesman said.
The turnover in two of what were MCI's three divisions comes as the company struggles in a tumultuous telecommunications market. Like other major long-distance providers, MCI has reported significant declines in revenue in recent years.
Andreotti, who had risen quickly through the company's executive ranks, could not be reached yesterday.
The company has told Wall Street analysts that it expects 2004 revenue to be between $21 billion and $22 billion, down from earlier estimates of more than $25 billion. MCI reported revenue of $32 billion in 2002, the year it filed for bankruptcy protection. The company plans to report third-quarter results in early November.
Since its bankruptcy reorganization, the company has struggled to fend off aggressive competition from the regional telephone companies and has been the subject of at least one potential takeover bid. It also lost a key regulatory battle this year that made it tougher to compete for residential consumers. MCI employs 41,000 people, about 4,000 of whom work locally.
