QinetiQ chief exec departs

The chief executive of defense firm QinetiQ (QQ-) today became the latest senior figure to leave the group.

Graham Lowe will stand down from his post from 30 November after eight years with the company and four years at its helm.

He will be replaced by Leo Quinn, the former group chief executive of banknote printer De La Rue, who will take up his new role on 16 November. He was involved in turning round Invensys and US firm Honeywell.

Lowe will, however, will remain a consultant to the group on the Defence Training Rationalisation (DTR) project.

QinetiQ's chairman, Sir John Chisholm said: "I would like to thank Graham not only for his leadership over the last four successful years as chief executive officer, but also for the part he has played in QinetiQ's creation from the time he joined as chief financial Officer of the Defence Research Agency in 1992.

"Graham has played a key role in QinetiQ's success to date and particularly its expansion into North America, which is now a significant part of the group."

Chisholm himself will leave the group at its next AGM in July when he will be replaced by non-executive director Mark Elliott.

QinetiQ has faced mounting criticism over its lacklustre performance since its controversial 2006 flotation at 200p a share which netted Chisholm and Lowe huge paper fortunes. Its shares are currently trading at around 145p.

The National Audit Office said two years ago that tens of millions of pounds of taxpayer money was wasted in the move.

In recent days, the bad news has been pouring out amid reports that the Treasury's Major Projects Review is taking a closer look at the intricacies of the lucrative contract to train Britain's armed forces. Since winning the contract back in January 2007, costs have spiralled by an additional �1 billion to the current �12 billion level.

Yesterday, a government inquiry said QinetiQ was partly responsible for a crash involving an RAF Nimrod over Afghanistan in 2006 which killed all 14 passengers.

However, QinetiQ denied that today's announcement was connected to the Nimrod inquiry.

QinetiQ chief exec departs

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