Ricke on the Way Out?

Kai-Uwe Ricke, 45, who has headed the company for four years, is to be relieved of his duties at the next meeting of Deutsche Telekom's supervisory board, the daily Bild reported, without citing its sources.

The company has said the next board meeting will take place on Dec. 5.

The Süddeutsche Zeitung daily, citing several sources close to the matter, said the decision to replace Ricke would be taken during a special supervisory board session that could take place Nov. 19.

Both papers said Ricke's likely successor would be the current head of the T-Mobile cell phone division, Rene Obermann, 43.

A spokesman for Deutsche Telekom declined to comment on the reports. Focus Online, however, quoted two unnamed members of the supervisory board as saying that the body would meet next on Dec. 5 next and that there was no reason to meet earlier. Ricke's contract would be extended before it expired in November 2007, the board members said, according to the online news site.

Conflicting reports

Business daily Handelsblatt on its Web site quoted a member of the board as saying no new meeting was planned. It wrote, however, that board member Lawrence Guffey of the Blackstone Group, which along with the German federal government is one of the Telekom's main shareholders, is opposed to extending Ricke's term as CEO and has already discussed the issue with the government.

The company in early September renewed its backing for Ricke and assigned him additional responsibilities.

But Deutsche Telekom is currently struggling with a loss of clients in Germany in its fixed line unit while its mobile phone unit is expanding only thanks to its activities in the United States.

The group on Thursday reported a 34 percent fall in net earnings to 980 million euros ($1.26 billion) in the third quarter compared with the same period last year.