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By Ron Coates, 26 April 2001 15:01

NEWS Analysts warned that Bland will have his work cut out at debt-ridden BT as Vallance steps down in time to miss the presentation of the fourth quarter and annual results on 17 May. Vallance is to stay on at BT as president emeritus until his long-established retirement date in 2002. Graham Fisher, analyst at Bloor Research, said: "The writing has been on the wall for BT management for some time. £30bn is a lot of debt and it has a lot of balls in the air. It's coming down to decision making time after all the stories BT has been putting out for the last year." Bland, who will remain as chairman of the board of governors of the BBC until a replacement has been found, said in a statement: "There are immediate issues to address, notably the impact of a dynamic marketplace on the strategic priorities of the company." Bland has already expressed his support for BT CEO Sir Peter Bonfield in the face of a half year of investor pressure for changes at the top of BT spurred by its massive debt and poor share price. Robin Duke-Wooley, analyst at Schema, said: "BT is trying to reschedule its debt. It would be difficult to replace both top men at once. Bland has been a steadying hand at his other companies and he's in favour with this government - that should be a help. "There has been too much procrastination and it's difficult to see how things could improve rapidly, but decisions need to be made." There is speculation that BT could cut its dividend - a move Vallance opposed. It could also make a deeply discounted rights issue to raise between £5bn and £10bn. Its plans to cut £10bn debt by floating minority stakes in BT Wireless and Yell have been cut down by the current market and by the company's inflexible attitude.