Matti Lehmus, the managing director of Liquid, will be stepping down from his position at Neste. He has been in this role since May 2022 and will continue as CEO until a new successor is found.
Lehmus has had a long career at Neste, joining the company in 1998. During his tenure, he held various key management positions in both the oil product business and renewable products. In March 2022, Lehmus was appointed as CEO after an international recruitment process led by Matti Kähkönen, the chairman of the board.
Recently, Neste reported its first-quarter results, which fell short of analysts’ expectations due to a weaker market for renewable products. The decline in comparable EBITDA was attributed to increased competition and a slowdown in the European market. This led to a significant drop in Neste’s share price, causing a 13% decline at the end of the results day. The company’s stock has fallen by 34% this year, halving its value in just one year.
Neste’s board and Lehmus have agreed that it is time for him to step down as CEO so that they can begin finding his successor. The board has already initiated the process of recruiting a new CEO to take over from Lehmus when he steps down.
