FRANKFURT — German carbon fiber maker SGL Group said its CEO, Jürgen Köhler, will step down over flawed business planning after the company withdrew its forecasts for the next three years.
In a statement on Wednesday, SGL — which supplies carbon fiber to automakers such as BMW and Volkswagen Group — said its outlook for the 2020-22 period had become obsolete and restructuring measures were being considered.
SGL said it plans to publish new guidance after completing its new group plan in January 2020 at the latest.
The company also said it expected adjusted operating profit this year to fall 10 million euros ($11 million) below last year’s level of 65 million euros ($72.1 million) instead of being flat as previously expected.
The company, in which BMW heiress Susanne Klatten owns a 28 percent stake alongside smaller stakes held by BMW and VW, also warned that profit this year would fall short of a forecast it affirmed just last week.
Christian Obst, an analyst at brokerage Baader Helvea, said Klatten could opt to buy out SGL. A spokesman for Klatten declined to comment on her plans.
SGL said Köhler would step down at the end of the month with Klatten, who heads the company’s non-executive supervisory board, showing “complete respect and understanding for this decision.”
SGL did not name a successor.
The company’s graphite and carbon products go into semiconductor production gear, anodes of lithium ion batteries as well as lightweight parts in BMW electric vehicles and luxury sedans.
BMW and VW tussled for control of SGL in 2011, driving its market value above 3 billion euros ($3.3 million) in anticipation that carbon fiber-reinforced parts would be used more widely in electric vehicles.
Reuters contributed to this report
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