Ceconomy said in a brief statement late on Tuesday that the supervisory board would discuss on Thursday the possible early termination of Chief Executive Joern Werner, who took over in March, without giving further details.

Shares in the company, which is listed on Germany's small-cap SDAX <.SDAXI> index, were trading 2% lower at 0900 GMT.

Werner has clashed with Ferran Reverter, the head of the company's Media Markt and Saturn store chains, over future strategy and the speed of its implementation, sources close to the company told Reuters.

"The power struggle has escalated," one source said. "Mr Werner must now draw the consequences."

A Ceconomy spokeswoman declined to comment beyond pointing to the brief statement issued late on Tuesday.

Another source said opinions on the supervisory board were very aligned, with only a very small possibility that they would choose to keep Werner.

Werner, who previously ran retailer Conrad Electronic, was appointed in January to replace managers the supervisory board had removed last October after a profit warning.

(Reportering by Matthias Inverardi, writing by Emma Thomasson)