Melita has announced a change at its top levels. In a company announcement, the board of directors stated that Chief Executive Officer Stephen Wright will step down from his post at the end of his two-year term in Malta.

With effect from the beginning of the year, Andrei Torriani, who joined Melita as managing director of the company’s mobile arm and chief operating officer last July, has assumed the role of CEO.

Prior to joining Melita, Mr Torriani led Telefonica O2’s consumer-focused telecommunications business in the Czech Republic, covering a portfolio of advanced mobile, broadband, fixed telephony and pay-TV services to over seven million customers.

His experience also includes senior roles with telecom operators throughout Europe, the Middle East and Asia.

The company’s board also announced that the consolidated financials of Melita Capital plc for the year are in line with expectations due to the results of Melita Infrastructure Ltd, which has already secured additional valuable bandwidth supply contracts commencing in 2010.

But, the company added, due to slower sales of Melita Mobile in autumn and the repositioning of its product offerings, the management expects a deviation of year-end results compared to forecasts. The variance, the company added, is not expected to have an impact either on Melita Capital plc’s financial results for the year ending today or on its ability to service interest payments on the bond.

The company announcement said that the management sees this deviation as transitory and is confident that the affiliated mobile business will achieve targets for the coming year. It added that the management highlights the rapid growth of new subscribers over the past months as a very encouraging start into 2010.