Spotify names senior Saab executive Luiga as finance chief

(Reuters) - Spotify named Saab executive Christian Luiga as its chief financial officer on Thursday, replacing Paul Vogel who left in March after an about eight-year long stint at the Swedish music streaming company.

Luiga will join in the third quarter from Saab, the Swedish defense materials group where he was the finance chief and deputy CEO for about four years.

Until his arrival, Ben Kung - Spotify's vice president of financial planning and analysis - will be the interim CFO.

The appointment comes as the company doubles down on efforts to improve its profitability. It has laid off employees and increased prices of its plans.

Spotify was planning to raise prices by between $1 and $2 a month in five markets including the UK and Australia by the end of April, Bloomberg News reported on Wednesday, with an increase planned for U.S. later this year.

That would follow a price hike of about a $1 last year across several countries including the U.S.

Spotify has also ventured into podcasts and audiobooks to grow its user base to 1 billion by 2030 and reduce its reliance on the music industry.

Luiga has a notice period of six months and will stay until Oct. 3, Saab said on Thursday.

(Reporting by Jaspreet Singh in Bengaluru; Editing by Varun H K and Sriraj Kalluvila)

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