A Canadian Pacific freight train travels around Morant's Curve near Baker Creek, Alta. on Monday December 1, 2014.Frank Gunn/The Canadian Press
The shakeup continues at Canadian Pacific Railway Ltd. with the exit of another chief financial officer.
Bart Demosky, who joined CP just over a year ago and is the third CFO at the Calgary-based railway since since 2012, will leave the job in May, CP said on Wednesday.
Analysts said they were surprised by the move, and it would be hard to find a replacement for Mr. Demosky, who has been credited with shoring up CP's balance sheet and finance staff.
But with chief operating officer Keith Creel cast as the next chief executive officer, one analyst said Mr. Demosky likely ran out of room to grow at the railway.
"This news comes as a surprise as we viewed Mr. Demosky's hiring only 13 months ago as a strong addition to an already very strong management team," said Christian Wetherbee, an equities analyst with Citi Research. "Nevertheless, we believe that Mr. Demosky has chosen to leave on his own merit and likely to pursue an opportunity which would provide a more clear path to the CEO role than he would have enjoyed at CP."
CP has not named a replacement for Mr. Demosky, who will leave to focus on "family and other opportunities," according to a CP press release.
Mr. Harrison has remade the company's leadership and management since taking the CEO's job after Bill Ackman's Pershing Square Capital Management won a proxy battle for control in 2012.
Mr. Demosky, a former Suncor Energy CFO, in 2013 replaced Brian Grassby, who was part of the new wave of leaders installed by Mr. Harrison shortly after he took over the CEO's job. Mr. Gassby, in turn, succeeded Kathryn McQuade, who held the top finance role for four years.
Walter Spracklin, an analyst with Royal Bank of Canada, said Mr. Demosky is an experienced executive who will not be easily replaced. "While we believe that Bart Demosky brought a high level of skill and experience to the CFO role, we do not believe that his departure will negatively impact CP's earnings potential given the company's strong balance sheet and cash-flow profile driven by consistent operating gains," Mr. Spracklin said.
Of the company's 12 senior executives, two remain from the pre-Harrison days: chief legal officer Paul Guthrie and Peter Edwards, vice-president of human resources.
Eric Atkins