Telecom equipment maker Alcatel-Lucent has announced the appointment of former Vodafone executive Michel Combes as its new chief executive.

Mr Combes replaces Ben Verwaayen, who said earlier this month he was leaving after Alcatel made a net loss of €1.37 billion in 2012, hit by lower sales in Europe and China and a writedown of its wireless and optics businesses.

Alcatel has been affected by the rise of low-cost Chinese competitors and trails market leaders Sweden’s Ericsson and China’s Huawei in size and market share.

Since it was formed in a merger in 2006, the group has gone through two chief executives and not been able to reach sustainable profitability or cash flows despite cost-cutting and paring its product portfolio.– (Reuters)