April 4 (Reuters) - Spotify ( SPOT ) named Saab

executive Christian Luiga as its chief financial officer on

Thursday, replacing Paul Vogel who left in March after an about

eight-year long stint at the Swedish music streaming company.

Luiga will join in the third quarter from Saab,

the Swedish defense materials group where he was the finance

chief and deputy CEO for about four years.

Until his arrival, Ben Kung - Spotify's ( SPOT ) vice president of

financial planning and analysis - will be the interim CFO.

The appointment comes as the company doubles down on efforts

to improve its profitability. It has laid off employees and

increased prices of its plans.

Spotify ( SPOT ) was planning to raise prices by between $1 and $2 a

month in five markets including the UK and Australia by the end

of April, Bloomberg News reported on Wednesday, with an increase

planned for U.S. later this year.

That would follow a price hike of about a $1 last year

across several countries including the U.S.

Spotify ( SPOT ) has also ventured into podcasts and audiobooks to

grow its user base to 1 billion by 2030 and reduce its reliance

on the music industry.

Luiga has a notice period of six months and will stay until

Oct. 3, Saab said on Thursday.