The chairman
of struggling Swedish mobile equipment company Ericsson plans to stand down
before the company's next annual meeting in 2018, he said on Wednesday.
Ericsson's
shares have lost almost half their value in the last two years and the company
reported a loss of 12.3 billion Swedish crowns ($1.45 billion) in the first
quarter, forcing a strategy rethink by new CEO Borje Ekholm who will refocus
the group on core network equipment sales.
Leif
Johansson, 65, has been chairman since 2011. With the turnaround strategy in
place and recent changes in ownership, it was time to step aside, he said.
"It is
natural to let the owners jointly propose a chairman and well ahead of this I
want to announce that I will not be available for a next term," he said in
a statement.
Activist
investor Cevian Capital, which has previously pushed for value-creating
structural changes at blue-chips such as truck maker Volvo and lender Swedbank
has built up a more than 5 percent stake in Ericsson in recent months.
Ericsson,
once the dominant force in mobile networks, has seen its position eroded by
competition from nimbler, cheaper Chinese gear makers including Huawei and a
resurgent Nokia and has tried to expand its business model to include clients in
the energy, transport and media sectors.
But a string
of acquisitions has failed to boost profits and Ekholm is now looking at
slimming down the group.
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