Siemens names Joe Kaeser as chief executive New beginning: Joe Kaeser will not be able to cure Siemens" problems overnight Siemens has confirmed that its chief financial officer, Joe Kaeser, will replace Peter Loescher as chief executive of the German engineering company. Mr Kaeser, 56, who has more than three decades of experience at Siemens, was elected unanimously on Wednesday by Siemens" supervisory board and will assume his new duties on Thursday. "Our company is certainly not in crisis, nor is it in need of major restructuring," Mr Kaeser said in a statement. However, we've been too preoccupied with ourselves lately and have lost some of our profit momentum vis a vis our competitors. My declared aim is to put Siemens back on an even keel and create a high-performance team. Mr Loescher will today leave the company by mutual consent after a six-year reign as CEO in which he cleared up a huge corruption scandal but also presided over a succession of profit warnings and one-off charges that riled investors. Mr Loescher, who plans to retain a close association with the company, said: "During the past week I came to the conclusion that the foundation of trust necessary for me to remain was lacking. A foundation of trust, and unity between a supervisory board and a managing board, is necessary for every company. The good of the company takes precedence over the interests of any individual, including me. He added: "It would be fatal for the future of Siemens and its employees if the successful course we've adopted in order to reorient the company, the clarification of past errors, the return to profitable growth and the establishment of a new company culture were called into question by a loss of mutual trust." Gerhard Cromme, Siemens" chairman who presided over the process to remove Mr Loescher and who has also come under pressure over Siemens" recent poor performance, thanked the departing CEO for his service: "Peter Loescher restored Siemens" high reputation and helped it achieve a series of impressive successes." Siemens" new CEO is much admired by investors and analysts for his precise communication and deep knowledge of the company. But he must move quickly to end a period of chaos in which Siemens management and supervisory boards fought a leadership battle in the public gaze, triggered by a warning that Siemens would not meet profit guidance for 2014. Mr Kaeser said he would by the autumn provide information on the "further refinement" of the company's existing cost-cutting plan as well as address the "medium-term prospects and our vision for the company." Siemens" fiscal third-quarter revenues declined 2 per cent to €19.2bn. However, new orders - in indicator of future sales - jumped 19 per cent to €21.1bn thanks to a large train order. Third quarter operating profit declined 31 per cent to €1.3bn due to €436m of charges related to the cost-cutting plan. The decline was partially offset by a €301m gain related to the announced sale of its 50 per cent stake in Nokia Siemens Networks. The company said it would announce a new CFO shortly.