Navistar International Corp (NYSE:NAV) has just named its new CEO, and investors couldn’t be more thrilled with the company’s choice.
The company’s stock has skyrocketed 26 percent since it announced that COO Troy Clarke will become president and CEO starting April 15. Lewis B. Campbell has been serving as chairman and interim CEO since August after the company’s previous CEO Dan Ustian stepped down.
The Wall Street Journal reports that in addition to the announcement about Clarke’s promotion, Navistar International Corp (NYSE:NAV) reported first quarter losses that were less than expected. The truck maker also separated its CEO and chairman roles and named James Keyes, a longtime board member, as its nonexecutive chairman.
Clarke has been with Navistar for about three years after spending 35 years at General Motors Company (NYSE:GM). The company said Clarke’s expertise helped push it into a clean engine strategy and improve its cost structure.
Shares of Navistar International Corp (NYSE:NAV) have been struggling over the past year as investors became frustrated with the company’s emissions strategy. Activist investors like Carl Icahn also became involved toward the end of last year. In October the company narrowly avoided a proxy battle with Icahn, who later purchased almost 2 million shares of the company to help ease its financial problems.
Navistar also said it is making headway towards this year’s goal of $175 million in cost reductions. The Chicago Tribune reports that it will likely cut more jobs and continue closing or selling some of its divisions. For the quarter ending Jan. 31, the company reported losses of $123 million, or $1.53 per share, on $2.64 billion in revenue.
That’s compared to losses of $153 million or $2.19 per share for the same quarter a year ago. Consensus was for Navistar International Corp (NYSE:NAV) to post a loss of $1.76 per share loss on $2.81 billion in revenue. The company’s total costs and expenses fell 15 percent during the quarter as well.
