Darrin Hicks says filling a vacancy left by a highly visible senior manager like Pankaj Khanna, who also announced plans to resign as chief operating officer of DryShips earlier in the day, “will be difficult with existing personnel though not impossible over time”.
“Although Khanna was appointed as chief marketing officer on 1 January 2012 his presence at ORIG through his marketing effort to clients and stakeholders as well as his overall expertise made it seem as if his tenure at ORIG was much longer than it actually was and his responsibilities were more expansive than his title indicated,” he told clients Wednesday.
“Going forward, we expect ORIG to replace Khanna with existing management at the company. Although it may prove to be a difficult void to fill at first, ORIG has been aggressively hiring experienced personnel over the last several quarters to build-out its maturing operations.”
Hicks believes the most immediate impact of the departure “may be the role of interfacing and interacting with the investment community” as Khanna has become “quite well known and effective” in spreading the stories of both ORIG and DryShips.
The analyst went on to encourage investors to keep an eye on ORIG’s Nasdaq-quoted stock as he thinks recent share weakness has enhanced relative valuation. He also reiterated a 12-month price target of $20.00 per share, $3.64 than the price reported at Wednesday’s close.
Khanna’s next step remains a mystery but most believe the veteran will land on his feet given his experience and celebrity in shipping and offshore circles. Some observers say they wouldn’t be surprised to see him branch off on his own.
