United Tech exec out after bad stretch
The retirement of Geraud Darnis comes after sales for the company's Otis unit plunged 8% in the second quarter, and the company lowered its overall forecast for the year.
Manufacturing giant United Technologies said Monday that one of its top executives is retiring after the company posted a poor second quarter and lowered its outlook for the full year.
Geraud Darnis, CEO of the UTC Building & Industrial Systems division, will retire in January after 32 years with the company. UTC did not immediately name a successor.
"Throughout his 32-year tenure with UTC, Geraud has made countless contributions to our company's success, playing a key role in securing our position as the world's leading provider of high-technology building systems and services," UTC CEO Gregory Hayes said in a statement. "Geraud has built an exceptionally strong leadership team across the commercial businesses and his leadership has resulted in a portfolio that is more focused and better positioned for future growth."
His retirement comes after sales for the company's Otis unit, part of the UTC Building & Systems division, plunged 8% in the second quarter to $3.1 billion.
The company said its 2015 operating profit for Otis would be $300 million to $350 million less than in 2014. Otis has taken a hit from the economic slowdown in China, where the plunging stock market has undercut confidence.
Darnis, who was assigned to his post in September 2013, also previously served as president of the UTC Climate, Controls & Security division. He joined the company in the Otis division in 1983.
Darnis will help Hayes with the transition to a new leader for the UTC Building & Industrial Systems unit,
The division has $29 billion in annual sales, 121,000 employees, 74 factories and 49 R&D centers.
The move came after UTC Corp.'s net sales fell 5% to $16.3 billion for the second quarter, and net income fell 8% to $1.64 billion. Hayes warned on a conference call earlier this month that "we're going to take a hard look at restructuring.
"To say I’m disappointed would be a significant understatement. I’m tired of delivering bad news," Hayes said at the time. "We don’t want to over promise and under deliver."
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