Precision Castparts names replacement for veteran IR vice president

Jay Khetani has been appointed vice president of investor relations at Precision Castparts, an Oregon-headquartered company that produces parts for the aerospace industry as well as the energy and automobile sectors.

Joining the company on May 2, Khetani took over from Dwight Weber, who is set to step down from his role at the end of the year. After serving more than 18 years at Precision Castparts, however, Weber ‘will continue to be involved in an advisory role’, the company says.

Khetani joined Precision Castparts in May 2012 as director of business development for the company’s forged products segment, coming from Sirios Capital Management in Boston and, before that, Cowen & Co.

Precision Castparts, which can name Boeing, Rolls-Royce, China National Power and Siemens among its major customers, has had just three chairmen and CEOs over a history of nearly 60 years. The current CEO is Mark Donegan, who has been with the firm since 1985, taking the top spot in 2001 during a downturn in the aerospace industry.

Taking advantage of this, Donegan offered deflationary prices to the company’s major aerospace customers in exchange for longer contracts and market share gains. According to Precision Castparts’ website, ‘this approach proved so successful that, when the new contracts kicked in at the beginning of 2003, the company had the largest number of parts under development in its history.

As these components moved into production and the cycle ramped back up, Precision Castparts achieved unprecedented sales levels.’ Donegan has also led the company through 27 acquisitions over the last decade, most recently buying up Titanium Metals for $2.9 bn. Precision Castparts posted net income of $1.2 bn in 2012.

‘Despite intense competition, we believe we are the number one or two supplier in most of our principal markets,’ notes the company’s annual report. ‘Several factors, including long-standing customer relationships, technical expertise, state-of-the-art facilities and dedicated employees, aid us in maintaining our competitive advantages.’