Unova Hires New President From FMC After Weak Earnings Forecast

Unova Inc. named Larry D. Brady president and chief operating officer of the Woodland Hills-based industrial technologies company.

Effective Aug. 2, Brady will head the company’s two main business segments, including the Industrial Automation Systems division, which is among the largest manufacturers of machine tools in North America.

Brady will also head the Automated Data Systems unit, which produces data-collection networking technologies.

Brady, 56, joins Unova after nearly six years as president of Chicago-based FMC Corp.

Brady’s hiring comes about a month after the company forecast weaker second-quarter earnings related largely to outdated automated systems at the company’s Intermac Technologies division, which produces hand-held data-collection devices.

Analysts said they do not expect the naming of Brady to have an immediate impact on the company’s stock ratings, but said the appointment should bring some organization and management depth to the company, which has many separate business units.

“Unova is a conglomerate with a lot of moving parts and since they went public, they have had a lot of balls in the air,” said analyst Walter Liptak of McDonald Investments. “They have brought in another person to help juggle those balls and that is a positive.”

After the Unova’s earnings warning, Liptak downgraded Unova stock to “hold” from “aggressive buy.”

On Thursday, Unova’s stock was unchanged at $13.69 on the New York Stock Exchange.

“We are pleased that an executive of Larry’s experience and skill is joining Unova,” said Chairman and CEO Alton Brann. “He brings a strong reputation for both growing existing operations and creating value from acquired businesses.”

Unova also recently moved from a 125,000-square-foot office in Beverly Hills to a smaller headquarters in Woodland Hills.

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