BT's Europe chief has quit in the wake of an accounting scandal

RTX29EIE

Reuters

Corrado Sciolla, BT's continental Europe chief, has left the company after an investigation into "inappropriate" practices in the firm's Italian arm.

Sky News reported that Sciolla left BT on Friday after the company was forced to write down the value of its Italian business by £530 million ($664.9 million). 

BT shares plunged by more than 20% after the scandal was revealed earlier this week. BT found "a complex set of improper sales, purchase, factoring and leasing transactions" that inflated earnings.

The firm reported its third quarter results on Friday, posting a 59% drop in earnings per share.

CEO Gavin Patterson said: "The good progress we're making across most of the business has unfortunately been overshadowed by the results of our investigation into our Italian operations and our outlook."

"We've undertaken extensive investigations into our Italian business, including an independent review by KPMG, and I am deeply disappointed with the unacceptable practices by some that we've found.  This has no place at BT, and it undermines the good work we're doing elsewhere in the Group.  We are committed to ensuring the highest standards across the whole of BT," Patterson said in the statement.

NOW WATCH: This behavior could kill your chances in a Goldman Sachs interview

See Also:

• A report sees the US slipping below India and China in a ranking of the world's most powerful economies

• There are now two distinct classes in Britain: Those who own property and those who are getting poorer

• FTSE 100: Financials bounce on Dodd-Frank, miners stink