Good morning. CFO transitions continue this year with one of the latest moves happening at Honeywell International Inc.
Mike Stepniak, who currently serves as VP and CFO for Honeywell Aerospace Technologies, was promoted to CFO of Honeywell, the company announced on Thursday. Stepniak will succeed Greg Lewis as SVP and chief financial officer after Honeywell announces its final financial results for 2024. From Oct. 7 until the CFO transition, Stepniak will serve as VP of corporate finance, according to an SEC filing.
Stepniak joined Honeywell in 2020 and was previously CFO for Honeywell Building Technologies. Before coming to the company he spent nearly 20 years with General Electric and Baker Hughes.
The software industrial giant, a Fortune 500 company, is headquartered in Charlotte. It operates four business segments: aerospace technologies, industrial automation, building automation, and energy and sustainability solutions.
Lewis joined Honeywell in 2006 and has held a series of finance leadership roles, before becoming CFO in 2018. After stepping down as finance chief, he will take on the role of SVP of Honeywell Accelerator, and serve as a senior advisor to chairman and CEO Vimal Kapur. Accelerator is Honeywell’s operating system that standardizes work across its four main business units: products, aftermarket services, projects, and software, according to the company.
“We are transforming how we run Honeywell through the latest version of our Honeywell Accelerator operating system,” Kapur said during the company’s second-quarter earnings call on July 25. The tool is proving to be “a powerful source of profitable growth” across its businesses in areas like M&A integration, he said.
“I’m proud of the transformation we have driven over my tenure at Honeywell, particularly these past eight years,” Lewis said in a statement. His taking on a new role at the company reflects a trend of greater CFO turnover.
The rate of finance chiefs retiring, changing companies for a CFO role, or moving into new executive positions increased in the first half of 2024, according to leadership advisory firm Russell Reynolds Associates’ Global CFO Turnover index. Taking a look at H1, from Jan. 1 to June 30, CFO turnover reached 8.9% globally, outpacing levels in 2022 and 2023. In H1 2023, turnover reached 8.3%, while the number for the same period in 2022 was 8.5%. Another finding is that more than half (54%) of companies on the S&P 500 had outgoing CFOs retire or move to new roles, according to the findings.
During his time as CFO, Lewis “played an instrumental role” in leading the business, including aligning the company’s portfolio around “three powerful megatrends,” which are automation, the future of aviation, and energy transition, according to Kapur. Since becoming CEO last year, Kapur has aligned Honeywell’s portfolio around those areas. In July, Honeywell announced the acquisition of Air Products’ liquefied natural gas process technology and equipment business for $1.8 billion. It’s his fourth major acquisition in eight months, Fortune reported.
Generative AI has cascaded across Honeywell internally. But the real strategic benefits of AI will come from integrating the technology into Honeywell’s offerings to its customers, Kapur recently told my Fortune colleague Jeremy Kahn.
Honeywell’s earnings for its second-quarter beat estimates with sales up 5% year over year, reaching $9.6 billion. Earnings per share for the quarter were $2.36, up 6% year over year, and adjusted earnings per share was $2.49, up 8%. Revenue for the quarter rose 4.7% to $9.58 billion. The company downwardly revised its full-year guidance for earnings per share, segment margin, and cash flow.
Stepniak brings a “strong track record of driving profitable growth,” Kapur said in a statement.
Have a good weekend.
Sheryl Estrada
sheryl.estrada@fortune.com
Upcoming Event: The Fortune CFO collaborative will meet on Sept. 26 in Washington, D.C. from 6:15–9 p.m. The topic of the event, held in collaboration with Workday and Deloitte, is “Strengthening the CFO-CISO Alliance.” Join me and Fortune Executive Editorial Director Diane Brady who will interview J. Michael Daniel, President and CEO of Cyber Threat Alliance and Former Cybersecurity Coordinator, White House Executive Office. In this conversation, Daniel will discuss how CFOs and CISOs can collaborate more effectively to educate their organizations on the changing threat environment, build internal alliances, and enhance existing cybersecurity models to mitigate risk and maintain financial security.
To apply, please send an email to: CFOcollaborative@fortune.com
The following sections of CFO Daily were curated by Greg McKenna
Leaderboard
Some notable moves this week:
Matt Schroeder, CFO of Rite Aid Corporation, was promoted to CEO. The company also announced that it has emerged from federal bankruptcy protection. Schroeder joined Rite Aid in 2000 and has served as CFO since 2019. He succeeds Jeffrey S. Stein, who has stepped down as CEO and chief restructuring officer. Steve Bixler was appointed acting CFO. Bixler has served as chief accounting officer since January 2023 but has been with Rite Aid since 2001.
Andy Childs was named Interim CFO at Pineapple Energy Inc. (Nasdaq: PEGY) a provider of sustainable solar energy. Childs succeeds Eric Ingvaldson who, as previously announced, resigned from the position of CFO, effective Aug. 30.
Michael Katz was named CFO at Voya Financial, Inc. (NYSE: VOYA), effective Jan. 1. Katz, who has been with Voya and its predecessor ING U.S. for more than 20 years, currently serves as EVP of finance and is a member of Voya’s Executive Committee.
Jean-Francois Mady was appointed CFO of Swedish electric manufacturer Polestar (Nasdaq: PSNY), effective Oct. 21. He will succeed Per Ansgar, who had joined the company in January on a transitional basis and will return to his role as CFO of parent company Geely Sweden Holding AB.
John Crawford was appointed CFO of Paysafe (NYSE: PSFE), a digital payments provider, effective immediately. He will succeed Alex Gersh, who is moving into an advisory role to the CEO.
Tatsuro Omura was named CFO at Mazda North American Operations, effective immediately. Omura previously served as general manager of the business structure strategy department at Mazda Motor Corporation in Hiroshima, Japan.
James Langrock was named CFO at 1-800-FLOWERS.COM, Inc. (NASDAQ: FLWS), a provider of flowers and gifts, effective Dec. 29. Langrock will succeed current CFO Bill Shea who has confirmed his intention to retire.
Big Deal
Verizon is acquiring Frontier Communications in an all-cash deal valued at $20 billion, the U.S. wireless carrier announced Thursday. Verizon has offered $38.50 per Frontier share held, which represents a 37% premium to Frontier’s closing price on Sept. 3, a day before the Wall Street Journal published a report on the deal.
The acquisition, which is expected to close in 18 months, will allow Verizon to add Frontier’s 2.2 million fiber subscribers, which accounts for more than 50% of the latter’s revenue. Frontier’s coverage spans 25 states, including Texas, California, and much of the Midwest, while Verizon’s 7.4 million Fios connections are concentrated in the Northeast and Mid-Atlantic. Verizon said the deal should generate at least $500 million in run-rate cost synergies over three years.
“The acquisition of Frontier is a strategic fit,” Verizon CEO Hans Vestberg said. “It will build on Verizon’s two decades of leadership at the forefront of fiber and is an opportunity to become more competitive in more markets throughout the United States, enhancing our ability to deliver premium offerings to millions more customers across a combined fiber network.”
Going deeper
Here are a few Fortune weekend reads:
“Mars chief reveals his secrets to leadership success: Slow down, learn from failures, embrace feedback,” by Massimo Marioni
“Exclusive: Marc Benioff has declared a ‘hard pivot’ to autonomous AI agents. Will it be enough for Salesforce to thrive in the generative AI era?” by Sharon Goldman
“Europe’s drone-friendly regulations are helping Manna soar above U.S. delivery rivals,” by Anna Heim
“In 6 years I’ve bootstrapped my moving company to $100M in revenue. Avoiding VC funding has been key,” by Voyo Popovic
Overheard
“He’s a safe pair of hands known to market participants, known to Europe, and the domestic political elite within France.”
— Mujtaba Rahman, a managing director at Eurasia Group, told the Financial Times in an interview about French President Emmanuel Macron naming Michel Barnier, the EU’s former Brexit negotiator, as the country’s next prime minister.
