Lockheed Martin Hunts For CFO After Ken Possenriede's Sudden Exit

Pentagon’s largest defense contractor Lockheed Martin Corp LMT said on Tuesday Chief Financial Officer Ken Possenriede is retiring immediately “due to personal reasons” and named a company veteran as an interim replacement.

What Happened: The maker of F-35 fighter jets named John Mollard, the current vice president and treasurer, to fill in temporarily as a replacement for Ken Possenriede, another company veteran who was leading the CFO role at Lockheed since February 2019. 

Possenriede, 60, has spent over three decades with Lockheed in various roles including as vice president and treasurer. His sudden exit comes two days ahead of the company’s scheduled investor day on Thursday and a rare miss on quarterly earnings last week.

Possenriede’s sudden exit was not related to any “financial or accounting issue or any disagreement with the company or any matter relating to the company’s operations, policies or practices,” Lockheed said in a Securities and Exchange Commission filing on Tuesday.

See Also: Recap: Lockheed Martin Q2 Earnings

Why It Matters: The hunt for a new CFO comes after a year Lockheed navigated through the global pandemic that hit the defense industry hard with shutdowns, shortages and months of delays. 

A draft of the 2022 defense budget indicates the U.S. defense industry could get a spending boost of $25 billion under President Joe Biden as the Pentagon looks to retire older weapons programs in favor of newer technology.

Price Action: Lockheed shares closed 0.31% higher at $369.45 on Tuesday and were down 0.8% in extended hours. 

For news coverage in French, Italian, or Spanish, check out Benzinga France, Benzinga Italia, or Benzinga España.

Photo by Robert Sullivan on Flickr