Nokia Chief Set To Step Down In September

Nokia chief executive Rajeev Suri will step down in September and be replaced by Pekka Lundmark, the company said.

Lundmark used to work for the Finnish company and is the current CEO of energy group Fortum.

Rajeev Suri has been in the role for six years and was previously head of Nokia Siemens Networks.

The Finnish company has been struggling to regain investors’ confidence after issuing a surprise profit warning in October that slashed off a third of its value and forcing the company to admit some delays in its 5G development.

Nokia faces intense competition from Sweden’s Ericsson and China’s Huawei in the race to deliver 5G telecoms networks to operators around the world.

Lundmark, head of Fortum since 2015, held multiple executive positions at Nokia between 1990 and 2000, including vice president of strategy and business development at Nokia Networks.

He led Fortum to embark on a bold attempt to gain control of its German rival Uniper, resulting in a power dealock between the companies that has yet to be resolved.

Before his time at Fortum, Lundmark led Finnish cranemaker Konecranes for 10 years until 2015.

Nokia’s October surprise profit warning forced it to halt dividend payouts.

“We view the change of CEO positively due to the fact that in its current situation Nokia needs a greater redirection which embarks from changing the management,” said analyst Mikael Rautanen of Inderes.

“At the same time, the news strengthens our earlier assessment that the company has more than just temporary problems,” he added.

Nokia shares were lifted last week after Bloomberg News reported that the Finnish telecom network equipment maker was considering asset sales and mergers.

However, a source close to the company told Reuters there was no truth to the report. Nokia declined to comment.

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