Paul Tellier stepped down as as president and chief executive of Bombardier Inc., sending the train and plane maker's shares down as much as 26 percent to a 10-year low on Monday.
Tellier's departure comes one year before the end of his three-year contract at the world's third-largest civil aircraft maker and No. 1 manufacturer of trains. Two members of the board also stepped down.
Analysts said Tellier's resignation, which also saw him step down as a board director, appeared to stem from a boardroom battle.
"It looks like there was a difference of opinion and that led to Mr. Tellier's departure," said Richard Stoneman, of Dundee Securities.
In a research report, National Bank Financial analyst Steve Laciak said the board disagreement may have been over the fate of a proposed new plane program or on the issue of asset divestitures.
"We need to know more. This is obviously a negative development," Laciak wrote, adding that he had suspended his "outperform" rating on the stock.
Bombardier also said Michael McCain and Jalynn Bennett had resigned as board members.
McCain, president and chief executive of Maple Leaf Foods Inc., joined the board last year. Bennett, president of a Toronto consulting firm, became a director in 2002.
Wanted to stick around
Tellier, 65, the former president and CEO of Canadian National Railway Co., and once Canada's top civil servant, had been appointed president and chief executive at Bombardier in January 2003.
In a recent interview, Tellier said he hoped to remain at the helm of Bombardier until the completion of a restructuring at its key aerospace and transportation units.
But, Monday, Bombardier said Tellier had indicated he wanted to leave the Montreal-based company when his contract expired at the end of next year.
"I understand the board's concern that I would not be there for the long term to develop and execute strategies, and the need to reshape the management structure at this time," Tellier said in a statement.
Bombardier did not name an immediate successor to Tellier, who sold the company's legacy snowmobile division, slashed its work force and put the firm on track for the $2 billion development of a new airliner seating 110 to 135 passengers.
Bombardier said it created a new office of the president that will regroup strategic and executive management responsibilities around the executive chairman, Laurent Beaudoin, and the presidents of its aerospace and transportation groups.
Beaudoin, former CEO of Bombardier and part of the family controlling the company, will chair the office of the president.
He will be joined by Andre Navarri, president of Bombardier Transportation and Pierre Beaudoin, president and chief operating operating officer of Bombardier Aerospace. Navarri and Pierre Beaudoin were also named executive vice-presidents of Bombardier Inc. and will sit as directors.