Angry Birds maker Rovio says CEO to quit, shares rise

HELSINKI (Reuters) – Rovio Entertainment said on Monday that Chief Executive Kati Levoranta will leave the maker of the Angry Birds game series at the end of the year.

Levoranta, who has led Rovio since 2016, took it public markets with a 2017 listing. While this was an initial success, only five months later Rovio issued a suprise profit warning, angering investors and halving its share price in one day.

“The company’s result and cash flow development are on a good level and its balance sheet is strong,” Rovio’s chairman Kim Ignatius said in a statement, thanking Levoranta for her work.

Although after the profit warning, Levoranta said Rovio was sticking to a long-term 30% operating margin, this has been between 6.3% and 11.2% in the past three years.

Rovio shares rose 1.2% after news of Levoranta’s departure.

“The board of directors will begin the search process for a new CEO,” the Finnish firm said.

(Reporting by Anne Kauranen; Editing by David Goodman and Alexander Smith)