By resolution of Kontron 's Supervisory Board on July 25, 2016, Mr. Rolf Schwirz was dismissed from his position as CEO and Mr. Andreas Plikat from the Management Board. Sten Daugaard will take over as CEO with immediate effect and will be advised by a task force consisting of Supervisory Board members Martin Bertinchamp, Dr. Dieter Düsedau and Harald Joachim Joos. Mr. Daugaard therefore resigns from the Supervisory Board of Kontron with immediate effect.

In addition, Dr. Thomas Riegler, previously interim Head of Finance, will be appointed to the Management Board. As planned, Mr. Frank Gumbinger will take up the position of Chief Financial Officer on January 1, 2017 at the latest. The Supervisory Board has initiated a selection process to strengthen the Management Board with additional technical expertise in the medium term.

Kontron intends to adhere to the strategic realignment announced in May 2015. One focus is on positioning the company as a middleware and hardware provider in order to take advantage of the long-term trends of the Internet of Things (IoT) and Industry 4.0.

Weak demand continues

These personnel decisions are probably also the result of another weak set of business figures. Kontron missed the usual seasonal recovery in the second quarter of 2016 and has withdrawn its forecast for the year as a whole. Revenue for the second quarter was only just above that of the first quarter of 2016. At EUR 90.9 million, it was 16.2% lower compared to EUR 108.5 million in the second quarter of 2015. At EUR 104.6 million, incoming orders were 4.5% higher than in the same quarter of 2015 (EUR 100.1 million). The order backlog stood at EUR 270.2 million at the end of the second quarter of 2016, which corresponds to a decline of 16.2% compared to June 30, 2015 (EUR 322.4 million).

Kontron has identified market-relevant and internal reasons for the Kontron Group's weak results. In order to counteract the weakness in revenue and adjust costs, the company is in the process of initiating a comprehensive program of measures. The company expects revenue in the second half of 2016 to be similar to the first six months.