Alcatel-Lucent names new CEO, chairman
Written on September 2, 2008
Alcatel-Lucent named its new leadership on Tuesday, handing the task of turning round the ailing Franco-U.S. telecoms equipment group to former British Telecoms Chief Executive Ben Verwaayen and French business grandee Philippe Camus.
The world’s biggest provider of fixed-line telecoms networks has seen its market value drop more than 60 percent in the 21 months since Alcatel and Lucent merged and the appointment of Verwaayen as chief executive and Camus as non-executive chairman come a month after the dismissal of their predecessors following a series of profit and sales warnings.
The company said Camus, 60, a senior partner at French media group Lagardere, would replace Serge Tchuruk as of October 1, while Verwaayen, 56, would take over as chief executive replacing Patricia Russo.
Camus will keep his position at Lagardere, the company said.
Investors have been pushing hard for many months to get rid of Russo and Tchuruk and the stock has regained 30 percent since their ousting but remains 60 percent below its December 2006 level.
“The appointment comes quicker than what the market had expected faxless online payday advances. The stock has recently been rising on hopes of a new management team capable of a turnaround. Now that the announcement has been made, there is no more (price) catalyst” one trader said.
By 0834 GMT the shares were down 1.4 percent at 4.245 euros, off an earlier low of 4.06 euros and giving the company a market capitalization of around 10 billion euros, as investors pocketed their profits.
“The board reacted swiftly. They found a CEO who has a good international experience and in the telecoms sector. Camus will be a truly non-executive chairman, so conflicts seen in the past are more unlikely to repeat themselves,” said Exane BNP Paribas analyst Alexander Peterc.
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