Oct. 5 (Bloomberg) -- France Telecom SA named Stephane Richard as deputy chief executive officer, replacing Louis- Pierre Wenes after a spate of suicides at the company sparked public concern.

Wenes asked Chief Executive Officer Didier Lombard to “relieve him of his responsibilities,” France Telecom said in an e-mailed statement. Richard, an ally of President Nicolas Sarkozy, was chief of staff at the French finance ministry before he joined France Telecom this year as head of international operations. He is Lombard’s designated successor.

Europe’s third-largest phone company has been shaken by a series of suicides that labor unions have blamed on stress and personnel movements caused by rapid reorganization. Twenty-four employees at Paris-based France Telecom have taken their own lives in the last 18 months.

“Hopefully, this will draw a line under the matter, and appease public pressure,” said Michael Kovacocy, an analyst at Daiwa Securities in London. “We would like to see perhaps a more caring restructuring, but at the same time the objectives should be hit. It’s up to management to balance the two.”

France Telecom has been reorganizing operations to slash costs as it seeks to compete with Deutsche Telekom AG and Vodafone Plc and stem a drop in profit as the economic slump prompts consumers and businesses to cut back on phone calls and data transfers. The company’s first-half profit fell 5.1 percent, and France Telecom said the level of business in the second half is likely to be “slightly lower.”

Resignation Demanded

France Telecom shares rose 0.3 percent to 17.72 euros at 9:51 a.m. in Paris, giving the company a market value of 46.9 billion euros ($68.6 billion).

The deaths have put pressure on Lombard and his management team. France’s opposition Socialist Party called for Lombard’s resignation last week, while industry minister Christian Estrosi said that the company’s management was “without a doubt a bit accountable” for the situation.

Finance Minister Christine Lagarde said Oct. 1 she has “full and complete” confidence in Lombard after they met in Paris to discuss the suicides.

The CFDT union demanded Wenes’ resignation last week, along with the suspension of some elements of the company’s re- structuring plans until the end of the year. Unions said they were willing to work with Lombard.

“We are ready to trust him,” Xavier Major, a CFDT union representative, said last week. “Now he must demonstrate by his actions that” there is “a genuine desire to change things.”

France Telecom, once a state-owned monopoly, employs about 100,000 people in France. The state owns about 23 percent of France Telecom.

To contact the reporters on this story: Tara Patel in Paris at tpatel2@bloomberg.net

Last Updated: October 5, 2009 03:57 EDT