Nortel CEO steps down, ES division down 28% from Q2 2008

Nortel CEO Mike Zafirovski stepped down Monday from his position at the helm of the Canadian telecom giant, which currently is shedding assets like its Enterprise Solutions Division [1] at auction. Zafirovski, who has helmed Nortel since 2005, who executed a successful turnaround at Motorola, was not able to keep Nortel independent in light of a crippling debt load and declining market share.

The company also reported its second-quarter financial results, which included a 28 percent year-over-year drop in revenues for the Enterprise Solutions Division. The division had revenues of $465 million, which as small consolation, was up 18 percent from Q1. The company blamed the sales slump in the division on prevailing economic conditions and customer uncertainty resulting from its bankruptcy proceedings and asset sales.

The company's net loss for the quarter was $274 million, up sharply from the $113 million net loss it posted in the second quarter of 2008.

Thought the financial results were poor, industry analysts quoted by Bloomberg [2] said Zafirovski's decision to sell Nortel's assets separately likely was the best course of action for customers and employees. 

For more:
- see FierceTelecom's coverage of the situation here [3]
- see the Bloomberg article here [2]
- see the Nortel Q2 financial statement here [4] 

Related articles
Avaya bids $475M for Nortel Enterprise Solutions [1]
Competitors stalk Nortel VoIP assets [5]
Nortel break-up to shift IP communications market [6]