Siemens Appoints Ralf Thomas As CFO

(RTTNews) - German conglomerate Siemens AG (SI) Wednesday announced the appointment of Ralf Thomas as its new chief financial officer with immediate effect. Thomas succeeds Joe Kaeser, who took charge as its new president and chief executive officer from August 1.

Separately, the company said Jim Hagemann Snabe, currently the co-CEO of business software maker SAP AG (SAP), will be appointed as member of the Supervisory Board by court order. He succeeds Deputy Chairman Josef Ackermann, who is leaving the Supervisory Board at his own request on September 30.

Ackermann, formerly CEO of Deutsche Bank AG (DB), left the post following the ouster of former Siemens CEO Peter Loescher.

Last month, Ackermann also resigned as chairman of Zurich Insurance Group AG (ZURVY), following the suicide of the insurer's Finance Chief Pierre Wauthier.

Gerhard Cromme, chairman of the Supervisory Board of Siemens, said, "In view of the growing strategic importance of digitalization for Siemens' core businesses, we are adding to the technology and software competence of the Supervisory Board with the appointment of Jim Hagemann Snabe."

Hagemann Snabe has been working for SAP since 1990, and has been managing the company since 2010 together with Bill McDermott.

Siemens has also appointed Werner Wenning, chairman of the Supervisory Board of Bayer AG and E.ON SE, as second deputy chairman and member of the Chairman's Committee of the Supervisory Board

The company's new CFO Thomas has been the CFO at the company's Industry Sector since 2008, the second-most profitable of the company's four divisions, and reports directly to Kaeser. Siemens today said that it will announce Thomas' successor to this position soon.

Thomas, who joined Siemens in 1995, has worked for Siemens in the Healthcare Sector and in South Africa, and in 2004 was head of the Corporate Unit "Corporate Finance Accounting, Controlling, Reporting & Taxes."

Further, Klaus Helmrich, has been appointed Labor Director of Siemens as of October 1, in addition to his current duties as Chief Technology Officer.

The company noted that its Supervisory Board considers it appropriate to closely link technology and human resources responsibilities in the Managing Board.

Enabling the new structure of Managing Board, Brigitte Ederer, whose responsibilities on Siemens' Managing Board have included human resources, is resigning her position by mutual agreement, effective September 30, the company said.

On Frankfurt's Xetra, Siemens shares are currently trading at 89.72 euros, up 1.14 euros or 1.29 percent.

On the NYSE, the shares gained $1.30 or 1.10 percent in pre-market activity, and traded at $119.50.