ROME — Mauro Moretti, the CEO of Italian government-controlled Leonardo, has taken the unusual decision of releasing the firm's healthy annual results early, just as the Italian government mulls extending his contract or choosing a replacement.
The firm said late Thursday it had booked €30 billion (U.S. $31.7 billion) in new orders in 2016, up 60 percent year on year thanks to the order by Kuwait of 28 Eurofighter aircraft, a program in which Leonardo is a key partner.
The preliminary results said profits had reached €500 million, compared to €253 million in 2015, although extraordinary transactions still have to be taken into account.
The final numbers will be published March 15.
Leonardo said revenue in 2016 had dropped by 8 percent to about €12 billion due to the shifting dollar-euro exchange rate and the weakness in the helicopter market, driven by the downturn in the offshore sector.
But it predicted an annual revenue growth of 3 percent to 5 percent between 2017 and 2021. On Friday, shares in the firm rose 2 percent on the news.
Leonardo does not normally release early, provisional results, and the decision appears tied to the Italian government's current consideration of Moretti's future.
Appointed in 2014 along with a number of other CEOs at state-controlled firms, Moretti's mandate terminates this spring, at which point he could be given a new contract or replaced.
That decision could be made around March 20, just five days after the official date for publication of Leonardo's results. Company sources said the decision to give a sneak preview was designed to give government officials more of a chance to appreciate the work he has done at the firm.
Italian news reports have suggested that candidates are being mulled to take his place, including Francesco Caio, 59, who ran Italian aerospace company Avio between 2011 and 2013 before taking over the Italian Post Office.
Caio has also acted as an adviser to the U.K. and Italian governments on digital policy.
Since his appointment at Leonardo, Moretti has shifted the firm from a group structure, overseeing a stable of companies, to a divisional structure, tightening management oversight from Rome and increasing synergies.
He has claimed the new setup has helped boost the firm's results.
His chances of being given a new contract may have, however, suffered after he was convicted in January for his alleged role in a train crash in 2009 when he was head of Italy's railways.
Moretti was given a seven-year jail sentence for his responsibility for the crash of a cargo train carrying liquefied gas in the Italian town of Viareggio, which killed 32.
Under Italy's complex legal system, the sentence will now be followed by up to two appeal trials, which could take years. During that time, Moretti will not be jailed.
Furthermore, the conviction may be timed out by the statute of limitations before the final verdict is reached.
Following the sentencing, the Leonardo board said it continued to have "full trust" in Moretti. This week, he was among the Italian CEOs accompanying Italian President Sergio Mattarella on a visit to China.
Tom Kington is the Italy correspondent for Defense News.
