After a very challenging year for the Finnish pole and floorball manufacturer, marked by decreasing sales and massive restructuring, Mika Sulin has agreed to step down as managing director of Exel Sports as of March 1. He will be replaced by Aki Karihtala, now 45 years old, who has served for Exel for no less than 20 years, most recently as senior vice president of its sports subsidiary.
As previously report, Exel Sports was busy in 2006 shifting its manufacturing outside Finland following significantly decreasing sales, mainly in the German-speaking countries where the Nordic walking boom has petered off earlier than predicted. In the first nine months of last year the sports subsidiary had an operating loss of €7.1 million on lower sales of €21.3 million.
The increasingly difficult business in Central Europe forced Exel to cut costs significantly at its German sales office in Bavaria. The staff there was cut from 20 to 10 people. The managing director of the subsidiary and the marketing manager, Harald Bierbaumer and Daniela Strasser, were let go. The subsidiary is now led by a new managing director, Korpimies Vesa, aided by a sales director, Stephan Huber.
