Dec. 2 (Bloomberg) -- AT&T Corp., the largest U.S. long- distance telephone company, named Sabre Holdings Corp. chief executive officer William Hannigan as president to succeed Betsy Bernard, who resigned to pursue other positions.
The appointment of Hannigan, 44, a former executive at SBC Communications Inc. who resigned today from Internet travel company Sabre, is effective immediately, AT&T said. Bernard, 48, is leaving AT&T because she wants to be CEO of a company, spokesman Jim Byrnes said. He wouldn't be more specific.
Hannigan will help Chief Executive David Dorman contend with lower long-distance prices and battle competitors Sprint Corp. and WorldCom Inc. to sign up corporations for phone and data services. Bedminster, New Jersey-based AT&T's sales have fallen for 15 straight quarters, with profit from continuing operations down 13 percent in the third quarter on lower business sales.
Dorman and Hannigan have worked together at Sprint and at Pacific Bell, part of No. 2 local-phone company SBC, Byrnes said.
AT&T recruited Bernard, 48, from Qwest Communications International Inc. in 2001 to run the company's consumer long- distance business. As head of consumer services, she tried to reverse AT&T's slide in residential long-distance sales by introducing a flat-rate calling plan called AT&T Unlimited.
She was named president in October 2002 when then-President Dorman was tapped to become chairman and chief executive ahead of AT&T's sale of its cable-television assets to Comcast Corp.
A statement by AT&T today said Bernard was leaving `` to pursue other opportunities'' and seeking ``to fulfill her personal goals.''
Shares of AT&T rose 52 cents to $20.35 yesterday in New York Stock Exchange composite trading. The shares have dropped 22 percent this year.
