Bruce McDonald, EVP/Vice Chair Johnson Controls Inc (JCI), Speaks at Baird’s 2014 Industrial Conference

November 12, 2014

Johnson Controls Inc (JCI) has “a lot on its plate,” according to Bruce McDonald, Executive Vice President/Vice Chairman of the company, and he anticipates 2015 as the year when the company’s recent maneuvers become firmed. He was speaking at Baird’s 2014 Industrial Conference, held at the Four Seasons Hotel in Chicago.

Johnson Controls has spent the last year divesting some businesses, acquiring new ones, doing a stock buyback and trying to seal some deals. A new CEO, Alex Molinaroli, “really comes in with a fresh vision to transform us to be more of what we’ve been in the past, a large automotive supplier with some other businesses on the side,” McDonald said.

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The company has three main businesses: building efficiency, which includes HVAC equipment and controls plus service work for the equipment; an auto interiors business; and a power solutions business, specializing in automotive batteries, McDonald said.

McDonald said the company is still working out details on a deal with Hitachi to buy 60% of Hitachi Appliances’ global air conditioning business. The deal is expected to close by July of 2015, McDonald said. A memorandum of understanding was originally announced in December, 2013.

McDonald said he expects Johnson’s auto business “to stay strong in terms of margins” in 2015, with building efficiency “starting to see a pickup in coating activity and orders flipped to positive on a year-to-year basis.”

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