Unisys CEO to step down

Unisys said on Tuesday that Lawrence Weinbach will leave as CEO of the computer maker in January 2005 and has stepped down from his position as president. However, Weinbach, who has been CEO, president and chairman of the company since 1997, will stay on as chairman through January 2006, it added. Unisys, which makes mainframe computers and offers technology services, also announced that Joseph W. McGrath, 51, has been named president and chief operating officer and that George R. Gazerwitz, 64, has been appointed vice chairman. McGrath had been corporate executive vice president and president of Unisys' Enterprise Transformation Services unit. Gazerwitz currently leads its Systems and Technology practice.

John Jones, an analyst at Schwab SoundView Capital Markets, maintained a "neutral" rating on the company in the wake of the news. "Change is almost never a positive at CEO levels, and (Weinbach) has been instrumental in transforming Unisys from a Hardware model to a Services-led model," Jones wrote in a note.