Siemens chairman to quit Axel Springer board -magazine

BERLIN - Siemens supervisory board chairman Gerhard Cromme will quit the board of publisher Axel Springer to focus on his role at Germany's biggest engineering company, WirtschaftsWoche magazine reported on Saturday.

Cromme plans to leave his role as a member of Axel Springer's supervisory board on April 16, 2014 when the company holds its annual general meeting, the weekly business news magazine said, without citing a source.

A spokeswoman for the German publisher confirmed that the entire board would be up for election that day, but said she had no knowledge that Cromme was planning to leave.

Siemens went through a turbulent leadership change in July when former CEO Peter Loescher, hired by Cromme, quit after the company had issued its second profit warning this year. Loescher was succeeded by finance chief Joe Kaeser.