The board of hygiene and health company Essity has appointed Ulrika Kolsrud as president and CEO, effective June 1. She succeeds long-time CEO Magnus Groth, who announced on January 22 that he wanted to step down during the year.

Ulrika Kolsryd comes from the role of business area manager for Essity Health & Medical. She is a true veteran of the company and has worked at SCA and the later spin-off Essity since 1995, the last ten years of which in group management.

"I think we need to pick up the pace a little," said Chairman Jan Gurander about the CEO change to Dagens industri. Ulrika Kolsrud will not be giving any interviews before she takes up her new position on June 1.

Essity's share has yielded a total return of 36 percent since the spin-off from SCA eight years ago. This is in line with its US competitor Kimberly-Clark, but significantly lower than the Stockholm Stock Exchange's total return index, which has risen just over 100 percent.