The separation of Howmet and aluminum maker Arconic was completed on Wednesday after both businesses relaunched as individual entities.
Arconic’s Board had signed off on establishing Howmet into a separate company earlier this year. Under the agreement, Arconic’s name has changed from Arconic Inc to Arconic Corporation, while Howmet will now operate as Howmet Aerospace. Howmet will now trade on the New York Stock Exchange under the ticker HWM, while Arconic keeps its ARNC ticker name.
Both companies will also have separate leadership teams. Tim Myers, who was previously the group president and executive vice president of Arconic’s businesses, will now lead the aluminum maker as chief executive officer. Howmet will be led by co-chief executive officers, Tolga Oal and John C Plant, the latter of whom will also hold the position of executive chairman.
Arconic will now focus on manufacturing aluminum sheet, plate, and extrusions for the automotive and aerospace sectors, while Howmet will handle engineered products and forgings, both companies said in separate press releases.
Earlier this year, Arconic had indicated its earnings were impacted by the suspension of Boeing’s 737 Max. The company, which at that time was still one entity, reported a 2pc decline in its rolled revenues in 2019 compared with the previous year, even though its operating profit rose by $144mn to $625mn during the period.
Howmet, which at that time looked after Arconic’s engineered products business, reported a 5pc growth in revenue to $7.1bn in 2019.