British Telecom (BT) has announced that its finance director, Philip Hampton, credited with slashing BT's debt, is to leave the company.

Having revealed a £1.48bn second quarter loss, BT announced that Hampton will leave the company after the spin-off this month of BT's wireless unit, mmO2.

Hampton oversaw the selling off of unprofitable units and BT's overseas stakes, reducing the debt by £11.4bn in six months.

BT chairman Sir Christopher Bland said that Hampton's contract would not be renewed beyond November 2002, with the final leaving date yet to be agreed.

No announcement has been made about a replacement.

Hampton joined the telecoms giant in October 2000, when his appointment saw BT stock make big gains on the market.

Concerns about performance and BT's future direction were cited by Merrill Lynch as a reason to downgrade the stock. The share price dropped by over four per cent following the announcement.

Hampton becomes the second senior executive to leave BT, after last month's announcement that chief executive Sir Peter Bonfield would leave in January.