Federal Signal names ex-ITW exec CEO

Federal Signal Corp., a maker of traffic cameras that track license plates, fell the most in six weeks in New York trading after the company said Chief Executive Officer William Osborne resigned.

Dennis J. Martin, 60, a Federal Signal board member since 2008, was named to replace Osborne, the Oak Brook-based company said in a statement today. Osborne had been CEO since September 2008, after serving as president of Ford Motor Co.'s Australian division.

“The time is right for new leadership to accelerate the company's strategic and financial goals,” Chairman James Goodwin said in the statement.

Federal Signal dropped 26 cents, or 4.6 percent, to $5.39 at 4:01 p.m. in New York Stock Exchange composite trading, for the biggest percentage decline since Sept. 21. The shares have fallen 10 percent this year.

Osborne said in a March 2009 interview that he aimed to pare costs by consolidating operations and contracting for some manufacturing outside Federal Signal's main businesses.

Federal Signal, which also makes street sweepers, aerial lift platforms for fire trucks and water blasters, reported a loss from continuing operations in this year's first half of $1.4 million, or 3 cents a share, compared with profit on that basis of $4.9 million, or 10 cents, a year earlier. The company reports third-quarter results on Nov. 3.

Martin most recently was vice president of consulting firm BD Martin Group LLC. From May 2001 to August 2005, he was CEO of General Binding Corp., a maker of binding and laminating office equipment. Before that, he headed the welding products group at Illinois Tool Works Inc.