New Triumph CEO aims to be 'predictably profitable' to woo investors

New York

TRIUMPH Group Inc's new chief executive officer said he will put a stop to earnings misses, after the aerospace-parts maker has fallen short of analysts' expectations in six of the past 10 quarters.

"A big part of my programme is to become predictably profitable, and cash management will be a focus," Daniel Crowley said.

Investors welcomed the appointment of Mr Crowley, 52, who ran two business units at Raytheon Co and was an executive at Lockheed Martin Corp. Triumph jumped 19 per cent last Tuesday after he was named CEO, logging the biggest gain in seven years. The shares dropped 2.4 per cent to US$39.99 at 12.04pm on Wednesday in New York.

Earnings have been hurt by rising costs and aerospace programmes that are winding down, such as for Boeing Co's C-17 transport plane and 747-8 jumbo jet. Triumph founder Richard Ill came out of retirement to take over the company temporarily after CEO Jeffry Frisby resigned in April.

Mr Crowley said he learned from some of the "best" CEOs in the aerospace industry - including Lockheed's Dan Tellep and Raytheon's Bill Swanson - "that you do what you say". He said he will focus on improving operations and reducing costs before looking at acquisitions. Improving margins at Triumph's structures unit will be a "catalyst" for better earnings.

"I'm going to have the expectation that Triumph flies on every platform in the sky. We won't achieve that overnight, but that's my goal," he said. "I have a very strong Rolodex of people overseas in Asia, in the Middle East and in Europe, and I want to see if there's opportunity," he said. BLOOMBERG