CEO George David ended his 14-year tenure during the annual shareholders meeting outside Montreal, handing off leadership to Louis Chenevert.
Two years ago, David hand-picked Chenevert, then president of subsidiary jet engine manufacturer Pratt & Whitney, as his likely successor. Chenevert, 50, has been the company president and chief operating officer.
"He's kind of been an understudy of George David," said Mark Demos, an analyst at Fifth Third Asset Management. "The business will be pretty much the same."
"The good thing for United Technologies is they still have a lot of headroom to grow existing businesses and drive margins without a change in strategy," said analyst Matt Collins at Edward Jones in St. Louis. "I think David did a good job in setting long-term strategy for the business."
Chenevert downplayed the prospect of change.
"I see a kind of stay-the-course in the next few years," he said at a news conference following the meeting.
United Technologies has capitalized on products in urgent demand, from U.S. military equipment to elevators or heating and ventilating systems shipped to a booming China.
Since David, 66, took the helm in 1994, profit has soared by more than 600 percent to $4.2 billion last year.
Revenue is up more than 150 percent, to $54 billion in 2007.
Much of the growth at United Technologies, whose market capitalization has grown from $6 billion to about $69 billion, has been attributed to David's hard-charging style.
"He had a very disciplined management process, one that was not a seat of the pants operation," said Paul Nisbet, an analyst at JSA Research Inc. "One of his accomplishments in my opinion was a series of very sizable acquisitions he has made and integrating them into the corporation with hardly a hiccup."
The Hartford, Conn.-based company is parent to Otis elevator, helicopter manufacturer Sikorsky Aircraft, aerospace company Hamilton Sundstrand, Carrier heating and air conditioning and last month bid $2.63 billion bid for Diebold Inc., the ATM and voting machine maker.
While that bid was rejected, analysts say Diebold will be under pressure to accept an offer.
Chenevert on Wednesday refused to discuss the Diebold deal.
He also downplayed the possible impact on subsidiary Hamilton Sundstrand of another delay in Boeing's production of the 787 jetliner. Hamilton Sundstrand, based in Windsor Locks, Conn., is contributing the auxiliary power system, cabin temperature management and control, pressurization control, heating and cooling and other systems.
"This is a 25- to 30-year life cycle program. No one will remember a few months delay," Chenevert said.
Richard L. Aboulafia, a vice president at Teal Group, an aerospace and defense industry research group, said under David, United Technologies has spurred global business and reduced the manufacturing work force, relying more on outsourcing. When David took over as chief executive, much of United Technologies' work was done in factories dating to the Cold War, he said.
"The global presence is greatly increased. Factories look totally different," he said. "It's a much leaner look."
Chenevert first joined Pratt & Whitney in 1993 after establishing a solid reputation as a troubleshooter at General Motors Corp. He is already deep into his first big challenge at United Technologies.
The company had gone back and forth with the U.S. Army about the construction of a Sikorsky helicopter, which has seen numerous delays. The company has already spent about $1 billion on development.
UTC shares, which have grown more than four times as fast as the benchmark Standard & Poor's 500 index, fell 99 cents, or 1.4 percent, to $70.81 Wednesday.
United Technologies: http://www.utc.com
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