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When Geneen finally turned over the chairmanship to Araskog in 1980, he kept a seat on the board of directors. Says Robert Sobel, author of ITT, a 1982 history of the company: "Araskog wanted to sell a lot of companies at the outset, but Geneen seemed to think that selling anything that he originally purchased represented a slap in the face." Some Wall Streeters believe it was not until Geneen left the board in May 1983 that Araskog, a West Point graduate who grew up on a Minnesota farm, could assume full command. The clearest signal that he was committed...
...that time, ITT was already mired in a slump. Profits were an estimated $462 million in 1984, down from a 1980 peak of $894 million. One reason for the poor performance was that the company's $8 billion debt, largely a legacy of the Geneen years, generated an annual interest bill of more than $600 million. In addition, ITT received a large portion of its revenues in foreign currencies. Profits were depressed because these currencies weakened against the dollar...
Araskog shocked Wall Street in July by slashing ITT's quarterly dividends by 64%, from 69 cents to 25 cents per share. ITT's stock price, which reached 47 3/4 in 1983, was at 31 3/8 before last week's divestiture announcement. Investors seemed unimpressed by the plan, and the stock closed the week...
...ITT back on a growth path, Araskog has launched a major offensive in the U.S. telecommunications and office-equipment markets. The company has long been a major supplier of sophisticated telecommunications gear in Western Europe but was effectively shut out of the American market until last year's breakup of AT&T. Now ITT hopes to sell an advanced switchboard, known as System 12, to some of the new regional Bell companies. However, it faces formidable competition from several firms, including AT&T, GTE and Northern Telecom. In the office-equipment field, ITT has come out with a personal computer...
Wall Street is wary about how ITT will fare in the future. Says Laurence Baker, who follows the company for the E.F. Hutton investment firm: "If they're going to show growth, they're going to have to fight...