Telenor's new CEO sees banking industry parallel
Updates throughout with incoming CEO, adds analyst, share price, changes dateline to OSLO
OSLO, May 23 (Reuters) -Norway's Telenor TEL.OL picked the head of a regional bank as its new CEO on Thursday and said the telecom group's strategy and its goal of growing profitably would be unaffected by the management transition.
Benedicte Schilbred Fasmer, currently the head of SpareBank 1 SR-Bank SRBNK.OL, will take the helm at Telenor on Dec. 1 when its present CEO Sigve Brekke retires, the two companies announced.
"The telecoms industry is technology driven and customer focused, very much a parallel to banking," Fasmer told Reuters in a telephone interview.
Both industries are maintaining infrastructure that is critical to society, she said.
SR-Bank last year agreed to merge with rival SpareBank 1 Soeroest-Norge SOONS.OL to form Norway's largest savings bank, although the transaction still awaits regulatory approval.
Fasmer, who previously held senior positions at Norway's largest bank DNB and insurer Fremtind, has also worked in asset management and is a former chair of the board of the Oslo Stock Exchange.
"The lack of telecoms experience may be viewed negatively by investors, but these fears can be abated by confirmation that Telenor's existing strategy will not change significantly," JPMorgan analysts said in a note to clients.
Telenor's share price was down 1.8% by 1215 GMT, underperforming a 0.6% rise in the Oslo benchmark stock index.
Reporting by Terje Solsvik in Oslo and Louise Breusch Rasmussen in Copenhagen; Editing by Jan Harvey
Related Assets
Latest News
Disclaimer: The XM Group entities provide execution-only service and access to our Online Trading Facility, permitting a person to view and/or use the content available on or via the website, is not intended to change or expand on this, nor does it change or expand on this. Such access and use are always subject to: (i) Terms and Conditions; (ii) Risk Warnings; and (iii) Full Disclaimer. Such content is therefore provided as no more than general information. Particularly, please be aware that the contents of our Online Trading Facility are neither a solicitation, nor an offer to enter any transactions on the financial markets. Trading on any financial market involves a significant level of risk to your capital.
All material published on our Online Trading Facility is intended for educational/informational purposes only, and does not contain – nor should it be considered as containing – financial, investment tax or trading advice and recommendations; or a record of our trading prices; or an offer of, or solicitation for, a transaction in any financial instruments; or unsolicited financial promotions to you.
Any third-party content, as well as content prepared by XM, such as: opinions, news, research, analyses, prices and other information or links to third-party sites contained on this website are provided on an “as-is” basis, as general market commentary, and do not constitute investment advice. To the extent that any content is construed as investment research, you must note and accept that the content was not intended to and has not been prepared in accordance with legal requirements designed to promote the independence of investment research and as such, it would be considered as marketing communication under the relevant laws and regulations. Please ensure that you have read and understood our Notification on Non-Independent Investment. Research and Risk Warning concerning the foregoing information, which can be accessed here.
