Thierry Breton, the former French Finance Minister, was touted in Paris last night as a leading candidate to take the helm of Alcatel-Lucent, the world's largest telecoms equipment supplier, after Patricia Russo, its American chief executive, and Serge Tchuruk, its French chairman, announced their resignations yesterday.

Mr Breton, who was chief executive of France Télécom before he joined the Government in 2005, may face opposition from American board members because of his proximity to the Parisian political establishment, sources said.

Alcatel-Lucent began the search for a new chief executive after Mrs Russo, 56, threw in the towel amid criticism of her management of the group formed by the merger of Alcatel, of France, and Lucent, of the United States, in 2006. She will leave the company before the end of the year.

Mr Tchuruk, 70, who headed Alcatel for 11 years before engineering what was effectively the takeover of its American rival, will step down in October. Investors and analysts welcomed the resignations, which they said could herald a fresh start for the group. Many had expected Mrs Russo's departure but not that of Mr Tchuruk.

Already under fire from shareholders after a 60 per cent fall in the value of Alcatel-Lucent stock since the merger, Mrs Russo, who earned €1.83 million (£1.44 million) last year, faced further anger over her €6 million severance package. Mr Tchuruk, who received €5.6 million compensation under the terms of the merger, will not receive a golden handshake.

Alcatel-Lucent reported a net loss of €1.1 billion for the second quarter yesterday after taking a €810 million goodwill writedown. This compares with a €586 million loss for the same period last year and is the company's sixth successive quarterly loss.

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