PARIS – Alcatel-Lucent shares jumped in European trading to their highest level in two weeks Wednesday on a report that the company is close to naming a successor for outgoing Chief Executive Patricia Russo.

The world's largest supplier of fixed-line telecommunications gear declined to comment on the report in Le Canard Enchaine, a satirical and investigative newspaper, which said former top Alcatel executive Mike Quigley has been chosen to replace Russo.

Alcatel-Lucent shares rose as investors welcomed the idea of Quigley's possible return, a year after his departure from the company for personal reasons. Alcatel-Lucent shares gained less than 1 percent to close at 4.12 euros ($6.04) after trading as high as 4.36 euros earlier in the day.

Alcatel-Lucent spokeswoman Regine Coquerin declined to comment on the report, saying she “has absolutely no information” on either the candidate's identity or the timing of the announcement.

Coquerin noted that in an interview Monday with French newspaper Le Figaro, Alcatel-Lucent Chairman Serge Tchuruk said a decision on Russo's successor would be made quickly.

Quigley's return to Alcatel “would be very good news,” said Odon de Laporte, an analyst at Paris brokerage CA Cheuvreux. He “has a good track record, and he knows the industry and the company very well,” de Laporte said. “He'd guarantee a rapid and smooth transition” of power.

At the age of 55, Quigley quit Alcatel-Lucent's management board in August 2007, after having taken a lower-profile job following the 2006 merger of Alcatel and Lucent.

Quigley had been president and chief operating officer of Alcatel since 2005 and was the designated successor to CEO Serge Tchuruk. Investors were disappointed when it was later announced he wouldn't keep the COO role after the merger.

Quigley benefits from a strong reputation as a manager and salesman, and knows Alcatel well after having worked there most of his career, first in his native Australia and later becoming CEO of Alcatel's U.S. subsidiary.

He has been considered a top contender for the CEO job ever since the company's July announcement that it was seeking to replace Russo.

Russo and Tchuruk announced their resignations last month after Alcatel-Lucent reported a sixth consecutive quarter of losses.

France-based Alcatel acquired Lucent Technologies Inc., a successor to AT&T's equipment-making arm, in a $11.4 billion deal in 2006. The combined company is in the middle of a restructuring that foresees 16,500 job cuts.