Joe Kaeser, the new CEO of German industrial giant Siemens, has said he played no part in ousting Peter Loescher, contradicting reports that the two were on poor terms.
Loescher left his position after the company made its second profit warning for the year last week. Reuters reports that Loescher had misjudged Siemens’ profit outlook six times in as many years.
"I worked very well with Mr. Loescher and was not involved in his replacement," Loescher told a German newspaper.
Kaeser had disagreed with Loescher’s abandoned goal of a 12 per cent operating profit at the company by 2014.
"He really underestimated the impact of this," an unnamed source at the company told Reuters.
Keaser denied that his working relationship with the former CEO was strained, and that he was involved in his replacement.
"Much has been written about untruths, rumours and speculation,” he said.
“The fact is that the supervisory board had to decide whether my predecessor should remain in office, and if not, who should succeed him. Those are two completely separate processes.”
It has been a poor year for the 166-year-old company, which delays in its train and wind energy projects, and it has not been faring well against rivals Philips and GE, according to analysts.