BT's CEO Ben Verwaayen has stepped down on the day the telecoms and services company released on-target fourth-quarter earnings and higher revenues than the market had anticipated.

Verwaayen will be replaced by BT retail chief Ian Livingston at the beginning of June.

The company's revenues rose two percent to £5.4 billion, ahead of forecasts of £5.3 billion.

Global services revenues were up 10 percent year on year, the highest quarterly growth for more than two years.

Verwaayen has presided over a successful, 21st century reinvention of BT as a serious player in the broadband, Internet and services space, which many critics believed was a high-risk strategy.