New man at the helm of Siemens

Siemens' supervisory board announced Wednesday that it had unanimously appointed its longstanding finance chief, Joe Kaeser, as the technology company's new chief executive as of August 1.

Kaeser said in a statement he would restore the firm to its old splendor after a series of unfortunate business decisions by his predecessor, Peter Löscher, who'd been at the helm of the company for about six years.

"We've been preoccupied with ourselves of late and have lost some momentum vis-à-vis our competitors," Kaeser said. "It's my aim to steer Siemens back into calm waters and form an efficient team to achieve just that."

The advisory board insisted Peter Löscher would leave the board "by mutual agreement." It had announced as early as Saturday that the company would pick a new head on July 31.

Löscher had fallen into disgrace for his overambitious targets concerning the company's earnings. He had had to issue several profit warnings lately after the firm had appeared unable to secure planned yields in crucial markets.

Joe Kaeser promised he would develop a sound vision for Siemens in due course that everyone could identify with. The supervisory board stated that a replacement for Kaeser as finance chief would be announced soon.

hg/tj (Reuters AFP, dpa)