Nokia’s Chief Executive Officer, Rajeev Suri, has resigned his position and would be replaced by the current head of Finnish energy group Fortum, Pekka Lundmark.
Pekka Lundmark, the 57-year-old CEO of Fortum Oyj, will take over from Suri at the start of September, the company said Monday. Nokia shares jumped as much as 4.9% in Helsinki.
“We see the CEO change as positive because in the current situation Nokia needs a bigger change, and that starts from the renewal of management,” wrote Inderes analyst Mikael Rautanen.
Nokia fell behind rivals just as the company was on the cusp of large-scale rollouts of fifth-generation mobile equipment. After problems developing proprietary chip-sets, it was forced to buy more expensive alternatives, adding to costs and eroding profits. Even U.S. President Donald Trump’s campaign against China’s Huawei has failed to reverse its fortunes.
Rajeev Suri, who has been Nokia’s president and CEO since April 2014, had “indicated earlier to the board that he was considering stepping down from his role at some point in the future, provided a solid succession plan was in place,” the company said.
“After 25 years at Nokia, I have wanted to do something different,” Suri said.
Lundmark has also served as CEO of Konecranes, a global material-handling technology leader. Prior to that, from 1990-2000, he held various executive positions at Nokia, including vice president of strategy and business development at Nokia Networks.
Lundmark also has “extensive experience in China,” he told a press conference on Monday — a market which Nokia last year announced it was backing away from in the light of growing support there for local vendors.
Nokia’s share price rose by four percent on the Helsinki stock exchange to 3.6 euros shortly after opening at 0800 GMT, before falling back somewhat.
