Deutsche Post executive board member to quit over strategy differences

By Ludwig Burger

FRANKFURT (Reuters) - Deutsche Post (DPWGn.DE) executive board member Juergen Gerdes will leave the German postal services group over strategic differences, following his removal from the group's largest division by revenue earlier this year.

Gerdes will leave the company on June 30 "by mutual consent and on the best of terms amid diverging views on the future strategic focus of the company," the company said in a statement on Tuesday.

Gerdes had for more than a decade been in charge of the group's Post - eCommerce - Parcel (PeP) division, which was the focus of cost cutting plan unveiled last week when Deutsche Post also slashed its annual profit forecast.

In April, group Chief Executive Frank Appel moved Gerdes to the Corporate Incubations unit, which builds electric delivery vans, and took over leadership of the PeP division himself.

Thomas Ogilvie, board member for personnel, will take on additional responsibility for Corporate Incubations, Deutsche Post said.

(Reporting by Ludwig Burger; Editing by Adrian Croft and Mark Potter)