UNTERFÖHRING (dpa-AFX) - There is a surprising change of personnel at the ProSiebenSat.1 television group. Wolfgang Link, the board member previously responsible for the core entertainment business, is leaving the company. He is leaving after 14 years as of July 15 "on the best of terms," the MDax company announced Monday evening after the close of business in Unterfohring near Munich. In the future, Bert Habets, the Group CEO and ex-RTL manager who has been in office since November, will be responsible for the heart of the Group himself.

On the stock exchange, the share climbed on the news on Tuesday, most recently by around 1.8 percent. According to a trader, the announcement had a slightly positive effect on the mood for the share.

Since an interim low at the end of May, the paper has already gained about 15 percent, so that for the year at least a small price increase is again to book. Weeks earlier, the reduction in the dividend had caused the share price to slide. In addition, the Group had slipped into the red at the start of the year due to the continuing weakness of its TV advertising business. In the meantime, the Group is discussing a cost-cutting program including job cuts. Czech billionaire Renáta Kellnerová, who increased her stake in ProSiebenSat.1 to around 15 percent, also recently gave the stock a boost.

Meanwhile, Link, the outgoing member of the ProSiebenSat.1 Executive Board responsible for entertainment, will remain with the Group as an advisor at least until the end of the year, the report added.

Under the manager's leadership, ProSiebenSat.1 had decided, among other things, to return to producing news from its own editorial team and to focus on local content. Link was appointed to the board in 2020 and had most recently devoted his attention to the complete takeover of the streaming platform Joyn. Habets, a proven television expert who now takes over Link's area of responsibility, wants to expand Joyn into a central streaming portal. Recently, he had openly invited the competition to a dialog.

In the past, there have been repeated rumors among the major Italian shareholder MediaForEurope (MFE) that the Milanese want ProSiebenSat.1 to focus more on the entertainment segment. The group from Unterfohring had been too broadly positioned. MFE was owned by former Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi, who died on Monday at the age of 86.

According to Supervisory Board Chairman Andreas Wiele, the reorganization of the Management Board is "the logical consequence of the focus on the entertainment business." "This is where Bert Habets can set new accents as CEO," Wiele said, according to the statement. With the departure of Links, the Executive Board is downsizing - this is in line with the restructuring program, in which ProSiebenSat.1 wants to cut costs, he added. The plan also includes job cuts. "We will cut jobs, especially in the second half of the year," Habets told financial news agency dpa-AFX at the end of May.

This is already the second change on the ProSiebenSat.1 Executive Board within a few months: The Group had already parted ways with its Chief Financial Officer Ralf Gierig at the end of April. He was succeeded by Martin Mildner, who was previously responsible for finance at the Internet group United Internet./tav/ngu/rin/men/jha/