Profile ITT
ITT is very much a North American company, but it is increasingly looking overseas for opportunities to grow.
The White Plains, New York-headquartered company splits its $7.8 billion business into three core areas - defence electronics and services, accounting for 47% of sales fluid technology which makes up 39% and motion and flow control, bringing in 14% of revenues. Of the total, aftermarket activities, through spares and logistics, account for around 15%.
"We've seen a significant steady increase in revenues over the last five years," says John Capeci, vice-president and director of business development for the electronic systems division. He expects the trend to continue for the current year. "Defence budgets are flat, so if we're growing at double digits it means we are taking market share."
ITT's June agreement to acquire International Motion Control will boost revenues from 2008, the company says, as well as adding around 1,000 employees to its tally of around 15,800.
Capeci is keen to stress the company's global reach and to ensure this continues to grow it has established a presence in Australia, Poland, South Korea, the UAE and UK.
ITT's electronic systems division has powered up since the merger of its radar and electronic warfare activities a year ago. With around 150 electronic support measures systems on order for several international customers, this sector of the business is set for continued solid growth.
The division is focusing on expanding its own international business, which accounts for around 25% of turnover. This could double in the next three years, Capeci says, adding that particularly interesting markets are India, Thailand and Poland.
Domestically, the company is well-placed in the US Air Force's CSAR-X competition, with a presence on all three platforms via the different variants being offered. This may generate more than $200 million for ITT, Capeci says.
Much of ITT's recent success - its shares have risen over $20 on the New York Stock Exchange in the past year - is through expanding product capabilities. "We have gone from a jammer to a full spectrum of situational awareness and systems integration capabilities," says Capeci.
ITT products now allow pilots to find out "who is out there, what mode they're in and how do I get away", he says. Flexibility is also key. "The building block approach to electronic warfare allows us to achieve modularity and scalability." Capeci adds: "We have to be constantly innovative and break into adjacent markets with new ideas."
Source: Flight International