New President and CEO to take the helm at Wärtsilä

The Board of Directors of technology company Wärtsilä has appointed Håkan Agnevall as the new President and CEO for Wärtsilä Corporation.

Agnevall will commence in his role no later than in April 2021. He will succeed Jaakko Eskola, who will continue as a senior advisor to the company’s Board of Directors and executive team until he retires on June 30, 2021. 

Håkan Agnevall is currently President of Volvo Bus Corporation within Volvo Group, a position he has held since 2013. In the decade prior to that he held various leadership positions in Bombardier and in ABB.

”Håkan Agnevall, a highly appreciated leader, has a proven record of developing organisations and businesses with a strong focus on customers, technology, and people. His experience within the Volvo Group on pioneering electrification and autonomous vehicles will strengthen our activities in corresponding areas”, says Tom Johnstone, Chairman of the Board of Wärtsilä Corporation.

”Håkan has the skills needed to accelerate Wärtsilä’s activities in supporting and enabling our marine and energy customers on their journey towards more sustainable operations and business models.”

“The technology trends in clean energy, automation, and connectivity offer exciting new business opportunities, and Wärtsilä is very well placed to be a leading player in the marine and energy markets of the future,” Agnevall said.

The Finnish technology group has been hit considerably by the adverse impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, shrinking demand across the board.

The company reported a 19% lower order intake for the first six months of this year, equaling €2.25 billion ($2.57 billion). The orderbook at the end of the period decreased by 12% to €5.4 billion, while net sales increased by 1% to €2.39 billion.

Overall, for the full year, the effects of the pandemic on the company’s financial performance are expected to be material. However, Wärtsilä said that it could not yet quantify the full impact on its business as it was still too early.

Wärtsilä withdrew its market outlook for 2020 on March 31, 2020 pending an improvement in visibility.

Earlier today the company announced the divestment of 100% of the shares in Wärtsilä Valves Ltd to an affiliate of Evergreen Capital L.P., based in New York, US. 

Wärtsilä Valves offers applications for Valves’ products, including e.g. FPSO, petrochemical facilities, power generation, LNG, naval marine, marine services, waste water treatment plants and pipelines. 

The company is located in Brough, UK and has 65 employees. The annual revenues were approximately € 15 million in 2019.  

The transaction was closed on October 1st.