Schneider Electric appoints new CEO to take charge of strategy

Schneider Electric SE has a new chief executive. It has removed chief executive officer Peter Herweck from the post he has held for 18 months and named Olivier Blum as his successor.

The French multinational company specialises in electrical equipment and energy efficiency technologies and has a market capitalisation of around €140bn.

Blum was previously the technology and business leader of the largest business of Schneider Electric, the energy management division. 

"The Board of Directors decided to remove Peter Herweck as Chief Executive Officer due to divergences in the execution of the company roadmap at a time of significant opportunities," the company said in a statement.

The new CEO, Olivier Blum has been with the company for 30 years and held various positions, including member of the Executive Committee since 2014, Chief Human Resources Officer and Country President of Greater India.

Jean-Pascal Tricoire, Chairman, said about Olivier Blum: "I have complete confidence in his ability to lead Schneider Electric in this new phase of focused acceleration."

According to Schneider's latest earnings report, the systems and services have been the main drivers of growth as the group has reported record revenues for the third quarter, €9.3bn, an increase of 8% on the previous year.

Digital Services delivered double-digit growth in the three-month to 30 September, driven by the energy management division's performance in this segment. 

"Sales in Q3 are at record levels and were led by our Systems business reflecting particularly the strength of megatrends including Digitization & AI and the Energy Transition," said the then CEO Peter Herweck.

The company recently acquired US-based Motivair Corporation, which specialises in