Paris - The two heads of the troubled French-American telecommunications equipment supplier Alcatel-Lucent, Pat Russo and Serge Tchuruk, have decided to resign, the company announced on Tuesday.

Russo, the company's chief executive officer, is to leave her post by the end of the year but, at the request of the Board of Directors, will run the company until a replacement has been found.

"I am very pleased with the progress we are making especially in light of a difficult market environment," said Pat Russo. "That said, I believe it is the right time for me to step down.

"The company will benefit from new leadership aligned with a newly composed Board to bring a fresh and independent perspective that will take Alcatel-Lucent to its next level of growth and development in a rapidly changing global market."

Tchuruk, Alcatel-Lucent's non-executive chairman, will step down on October 1.

In a statement released in Paris, the company said that the moves were made "to pave the way for a fully aligned governance and management model going forward."

French Alcatel and the US company Lucent merged at the end of 2006 to form the largest company of its kind. However, it has continued losing money.

In the second quarter of 2008, Alcatel-Lucent lost 222 million euros (350 million dollars), the company said Tuesday.

Turnover was at 4.1 billion euros, down by 2.5 per cent over the same period last year.

Despite the morose results, investors were cheered by the management changes and bid Alcatel-Lucent shares up by nearly 5.5 per cent, to 4.04 euros, in early trading on the Paris Bourse. (dpa)