BAE Systems has appointed Jerry DeMuro to head its semi-autonomous US business as Europe's largest defence company faces the steepest downturn in US defence spending since the end of the cold war.
Mr DeMuro's retirement last February from BAE's US competitor General Dynamics was overshadowed by a tough final year for Information Systems and Technology, the division he headed.
In 2012 the division, which makes secure communications technology for military units as well as departments such as Homeland Security and Nasa, suffered a goodwill impairment of $2bn and an operating loss of $1.4bn.
Loren Thompson, an analyst for the Virginia-based Lexington Institute, said that, for the nine of the 10 years that Mr DeMuro was in charge of the division it had been an "engine of growth" for the company.
"Not only was he good at integrating acquisitions," Mr Thompson said. "He was also good at organic growth." The division's revenues and returns had increased 125 per cent over Mr DeMuro's time in charge, Mr Thompson said.
However, the information systems division had made a number of poor acquisitions in the latter part of Mr DeMuro's time in charge, but those had mainly been steered by Jay Johnson, the company's former chief executive, Mr Thompson added.
Linda Hudson, BAE Inc's current head and the first woman to run a major US defence supplier, told BAE in August that she would retire in the first quarter of this year. The announcement sent BAE into an intense hunt for her successor, who US rules dictated had to be a US citizen and allowed to handle some of he country's most sensitive defence and security systems.
Filling the position quickly was crucial for BAE, which analysts felt had not managed to groom an internal successor quickly enough even though Ms Hudson had stayed longer at its helm than she initially indicated.
BAE Inc is the company's biggest division, accounting for about 40 per cent of overall sales, but must be able to act autonomously to be allowed access to the US's most sensitive defence programmes. Ms Hudson's decision to retire came at an awkward moment for BAE Systems, which had just spent months finding a chairman for the overall group.
Ms Hudson will retire on February 1, but remain on BAE Systems Inc's board until April 2015.
Mr DeMuro takes over at a challenging time for BAE Inc and the rest of the industry, which has had to shut plants and reduce headcount as the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan have drawn to a close and US lawmakers have negotiated steep cuts in defence spending to help reduce the budget deficit.
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FOLLOW USΑκολουθήστε τη σελίδα του Euro2day.gr στο LinkedinIan King, BAE Systems' chief executive, said Mr DeMuro's experience "will be of immense benefit as the company strives to maintain its strong performance in the United States core defence market and increase its focus on new international and commercial opportunities".
Mr DeMuro, whose pay package was worth more than $4m in 2012, joins BAE Inc with more than 36 years experience in the national security and aerospace technology industry, BAE said, adding that he had spent the past year consulting.
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