Triumph Group names Raytheon's Crowley as CEO, shares jump 13pct

By Andrea Shalal
WASHINGTON, Dec 29 (Reuters) - Shares of Triumph Group, Inc
TGI.N , a supplier of aerospace components and systems, jumped
over 13 percent on Tuesday after the company named Dan Crowley,
a senior executive at Raytheon Co RTN.N , as president and
chief executive officer.
Crowley said he planned to help the company "raise its bar
on performance" and would undertake a "top to bottom strategic
review" aimed at boosting Triumph's operational performance and
margins, while expanding its defense and international business.
Crowley will replace Richard Ill, effective Jan. 4. Ill
founded Triumph and served has served as CEO since April 2015,
after previously serving as CEO from 1993 until his retirement
in July 2012. He will remain a member of the board of the
Berwyn, Pennsylvania-based company.
Triumph shares surged percent on the New York Stock Exchange
after the announcement and were trading 13.7 percent higher at
$39.13 around midday.
Crowley, who held senior positions with Lockheed Martin Corp (N:LMT)
LMT.N before joining Raytheon in 2010, told Reuters he would
study the company's business areas closely before making
recommendations on any portfolio changes to the board.
"Triumph is in need of some changes in operational
execution and strategy," Crowley said. "But the overall market
in which Triumph competes is still a very attractive market,"
with expected annual growth of 4 percent of 7 percent per year,
spurred by what he called the "democratization of air travel."
He said he had been in touch with the CEOs of key customers,
including Boeing (N:BA) Co BA.N , Northrop Grumman Corp (N:NOC) NOC.N ,
Airbus Group SE AIR.PA , Bombardier Inc BBDb.TO , Gulfstream,
a unit of General Dynamics Corp (N:GD) GD.N and Brazil's Embraer SA
EMBR3.SA about his new role, and received positive reactions.
"It's a very competitive business, and Triumph knows that it
has to raise its bar on performance," he said. He said major
equipment manufacturers like Boeing were pressuring suppliers to
improve cost, quality and delivery times, and he hoped Triumph
could win one of Boeing's annual operational excellence awards.
He said Triumph had been, and would remain, active in the
mergers & acquisitions market, but his initial focus would be on
better integrating companies already acquired in recent years
and assessing the strengths of the various business units.
RBC Capital Markets' Steven Cahall said the announcement was
the catalyst that market had been waiting for.
"The street broadly feels it will take an outsider to shake
things up and kickstart a meaningful operational improvement
process," he wrote in a note to investors.