Swedish hygiene and paper product maker SCA said on Monday it had appointed Jan Johansson, currently head of Swedish miner Boliden, as its new chief executive, replacing Jan Astrom.

SCA, Europe's biggest manufacturer of corrugated packaging and hygiene products, said Johansson would take up his new post within three months and that SCA's chief financial officer, Lennart Persson, would be acting chief executive until Johansson joined.

"The SCA board has decided to carry out a change of Chief Executive officer in SCA," the firm said.

SCA spokeswoman Bodil Eriksson said the board felt it was a good time for a CEO change and that there was no schism over the replacement of Astrom, who had been its chief executive for six years.

Astrom himself said in a statement he respected that different times called for different leadership.

"In the board we see major opportunities for SCA to improve profitability and accelerate its growth rate in prioritised markets in Eastern Europe, Asia and Latin America," SCA Chairman Sverker Martin-Lof said in the statement.

"This applies in particular to SCA's consumer products. It is a question of finding the right leadership for the right challenges."

At 1215 GMT, SCA shares were at 121 crowns, up 1.26 percent, while Boliden shares were at 142.75 crowns, down 1.55 percent.

In a separate statement, Boliden said it had begun the search for a new chief executive.

Source