Publications
Partners
Frankfurt -The head of German airline Lufthansa, Christoph Franz, will step down at the end of his current contract in May 2014 to head the board of directors at Roche pharmaceutical group, the companies announced on Monday.
"Christoph Franz has informed Deutsche Lufthansa AG that he is not available for an extension of his contract as chairperson of the executive board and CEO," Lufthansa said in a statement.
Switzerland's Roche said in a statement that Franz has been nominated to succeed its chief Franz B. Humer, who plans to retire early next year.
Franz said that he was "delighted" to be joining the Basel-based giant.
"Roche is an outstanding company. As a board member I have had ample opportunity to get to know and admire its strong business performance and corporate culture. Strategically, Roche is in very good shape, and I am looking forward to taking on this opportunity."
Franz's intentions to leave Germany's flagship carrier, which he has headed since January 2011, were first reported on Sunday in the Die Welt online edition, which quoted his inner circle.
Franz has served on Roche's supervisory board since 2011.
Franz said the decision to leave - after 15 years within the Lufthansa group - "was anything but easy.
"I like working for this company. But for career reasons, I have decided to end my work for the Lufthansa group once my contract expires in May 2014," Franz said.
By that time, the airline's restructuring programme and key investment decisions "will have laid the foundation for Lufthansa's future success. That is a suitable time for a change in management," he added.
Lufthansa's supervisory board chief Wolfgang Mayrhuber said he "regretted" Franz's decision to quit.
Investors appeared somewhat unnerved by the announcement.
Lufthansa shares were among the few losers on the blue-chip DAX index on the Frankfurt stock exchange, slipping by 0.25% while the overall market was up 1.19%.
