ZURICH, (Reuters) – Swisscom appointed Christoph Aeschlimann to be its chief executive. He will succeed Urs Schaeppi on June 1, having served nine years.

Aeschlimann (45) is the head of infrastructure network and IT, and also a member on the executive board.

Consolidated operating income before depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) increased by 2.2% to 4.48 billion Swiss francs in 2021 including non-recurring items. It stated in a statement that EBITDA rose 1.4% for a similar-forlike basis.

Non-recurring items were the main reason net income grew by 20% to 1.83billion, or a fifth of what it was in prior years.

Its Fastweb Italy business, and the sales to businesses customers made it a more profitable company than its hard-hit home market. This helped to offset revenue losses of 0.7%.

For 2022, Swisscom expects revenue of 11.1 billion-11.2 billion francs, EBITDA of around 4.4 billion and capital expenditure of around 2.3 billion.

It stated that Swisscom would propose an unchanged dividend at 22 Francs per share if it meets its goals.

The state-controlled telecoms monopoly that was once a monopoly in the industry cut its outlook for 2021. It cited a review of its fiber-optic partnership, Salt, and changes to exchange rates.