STOCKHOLM, REUTERS, January 11-Two companies said on Monday that Rickard Gustafson will resign as CEO of Scandinavian Airlines SAS in the first half of this year to take over Swedish bearing manufacturer SKF.

Gustafson will succeed Alrik Danielson, who stepped down this year after serving as CEO for 6 years.

Gustafson has been the CEO of SAS for ten years and is also a member of the board of SKF's largest owner Foundation Asset Management (FAM).

Due to the pandemic, he left SAS and the aviation industry fell into crisis. SAS completed its capital increase at the end of 2020, a year of serious losses.

About 70% of SKF Group's sales come from the more profitable industrial business, while 30% comes from the automotive industry.

Under Danielson’s leadership, it has been transforming its vast factory network, increasing automation spending, driving a performance-based revenue model and cutting costs.

SKF's competitors include Germany's Schaeffler, which has exceeded analyst expectations throughout 2020 and raised its long-term profit target in November. (Reporting by Johannes Hellstrom and Johan Ahlander; Editing by Kevin Liffey)

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