The owner of the Media Markt and Saturn chains is in the middle of an "intensive" search for a new CEO, Chairman Juergen Fitschen told the company's annual general meeting.

Fitschen is also set to retire and hand over to former Deutsche Telekom finance chief Thomas Dannenfeldt.

The chairman did not comment on the names of possible CEO candidates, but said a recruitment consultant was involved in the process.

Ceconomy had said it was seeking a new CEO before the expiry of Duettmann's contract as interim CEO in 2020, before deciding to extend his term for a further 12 months.

(Reporting by Zuzanna Szymanska in Gdansk. Editing by Mark Potter)