ITT Industries Inc., the world’s
biggest maker of water pumps and military night-vision goggles,
hired Textron Inc. executive Steven Loranger to replace retiring
Louis Giuliano as president and chief executive officer.
Loranger, 52, has been chief operating officer of Providence-based Textron,
the maker of Bell helicopters and Cessna planes, since 2002. His
hiring is effective immediately, ITT said in a statement. Textron
said separately it is eliminating Loranger’s post and that its
business-unit presidents will report directly to the CEO.
Loranger’s experience in several industrial markets got him
the job, ITT said. The White Plains, N.Y.-based company has
been searching for a new chief since Giuliano said in February he
wanted to devote more time to his faith. ITT’s sales rose 13
percent to $5.63 billion last year, helped by acquisitions, new
products and demand for water-treatment and defense products.
“Loranger is good operationally. He knows defense and
productivity and most importantly he understands growth,” said
analyst Brian Langenberg, of Soleil Securities Corp., which has a
“hold” rating on ITT. “ITT is already a great company. They
just need someone to take them onward and upward.”
Giuliano, 57, joined ITT in 1988 and became chairman,
president and CEO in March 2001. He will remain non-executive
chairman through 2004, when Loranger also will become chairman.
Loranger was responsible for the operations of all of
Textron’s manufacturing businesses, which include aircraft,
fasteners, pumps and golf carts. Textron had 2003 sales of $9.86 billion.
“We view Steven Loranger’s most significant contribution to
Textron as driving execution throughout the organization,”
Credit Suisse First Boston analyst Nicole Parent said in a note
to clients. She has an “outperform” rating on Textron.
Loranger previously spent 21 years at Honeywell
International Inc., the world’s biggest maker of airplane-cockpit
equipment. He was an officer and pilot in the U.S. Navy from 1975
to 1981 and has bachelor’s and master’s degrees from the
University of Colorado, ITT said.
ITT earlier this month forecast per-share earnings growth of
8 percent to 10 percent a year, and revenue increases of 5
percent to 7 percent annually over the next five years.
“I’m satisfied that ITT on the course that it’s on can in
fact make those goals,” Loranger said in an interview. “I think
they’re ambitious and I think that they will create a lot of
value.”
ITT would consider acquisitions “in the several hundred-million-dollar range that can create some strategic value,”
Loranger said.
Bloomberg News
