GKN drops incoming boss amid warning of write-offs

ENGINEERING FIRM GKN has ditched its incoming boss less than two months before he was due to take on the top job as it warned over another hit in its troubled US plant.

Shares in the group – which makes wing tips for Airbus and parts for car giants including Mercedes and Jaguar Land Rover – slumped 6 per cent on the shock decision to oust Kevin Cummings with “immediate effect”.

Mr Cummings, who has headed GKN’s aerospace business since 2014, was due to take over from incumbent chief executive Nigel Stein on January 1.

GKN remained tight-lipped on the reason for the decision, except to say it had “concluded the next stage of GKN’s development is best delivered under alternative leadership”.

The firm has instead appointed non-executive director Anne Stevens as interim chief executive from January 1 and launched a search to appoint a permanent successor.

Investors took fright as GKN also said a review of its US aerospace plants had uncovered a further hit, with additional write-offs of between £80m and £130m.

It had previously expected to write off £15m on its Alabama facility, relating to “revised assumptions” on programme inventory and receivables balances, which sparked a wider review across the division.

Last month, GKN warned that profits will only be “slightly above” 2016 after it disclosed a £40m hit linked to legal claims and the Alabama writedown.

The group has now brought forward the start date of new hire Hans Buthker, formerly chief executive of Fokker Technologies, to head up GKN Aerospace immediately.

GKN has its headquarters in Redditch, Worcestershire.