Siemens Likely To Oust CEO Peter Loescher

(RTTNews) - Siemens AG (SI) will likely replace President and Chief Executive Officer Peter Loescher next week after the German industrial conglomerate repeatedly missed profit targets and issued a profit warning as recently as Thursday.

The company said on Saturday that it will decide on the early departure of the president and CEO at its supervisory board meeting on Wednesday, July 31. Siemens also said it will decide on the appointment of a member of the managing board as president and CEO at the meeting. According to the company, the agenda of the meeting has been extended accordingly.

Loescher, aged 55 and a native of Austria, joined Siemens as President and CEO in July 2007 from drug maker Merck & Co. Inc. (MRK). However, Siemens has been repeatedly missing profit targets ever since Loescher assumed the company's helm.

On Thursday, Siemens said it no longer expects to achieve a total sectors profit margin of at least 12 percent by fiscal 2014, citing lower market expectations. The profit margin target was part of the company's objective in the Siemens 2014 program that was announced in November 2012.

The program had targeted total sectors profit margin of at least 12 percent by 2014 and also aimed for productivity gains of 6 billion euros over the coming two years.

Siemens will report third-quarter earnings results on Thursday, August 1, 2013.

In early May, Siemens cut its profit forecast for fiscal 2013 amid weak industry demand environment and said it sees a moderate decline in organic revenues. The company's second-quarter profit and orders increased, while revenue dropped.

According to media reports, leading candidates who are likely to replace Loescher as CEO include Siemens' Chief Financial Officer Joe Kaeser and Siegfried Russwurm, who heads the company's industry sector division.

SI closed Friday's trading on the NYSE at $106.59, up $2.46 or 2.36 percent on a volume of 760,046 shares.