In February it will be four years since Rolls-Royce Holdings PLC (LSE:RR.) boss Tufan Erginbilgic left BP PLC after he was overlooked in favour of Bernard Looney to be boss of the oil supermajor.
After 20 years at BP, the departure of Erginbilgic, who was CEO of the Downstream division, was announced just days after the promotion of Looney, who was the Upstream CEO.
The Turkey-born exec joined Rolls-Royce on 1 January this year and today, 331 days later, the shares are up 161% to a four-year high as he unveiled his four-year plan to quadruple the group's profits.
Some BP investors may be regretting their board's decision to overlook him for the top job.
Since taking the helm at jet engine maker, Erginbilgic's impact has been notable though, starting on the front foot by describing the jet engine maker as a "burning platform" in his first month.
Reports from company and industry insiders suggest this approach has continued as he has looked for internal and external improvements.
As well as a significant reshuffling of the senior management team, there has been a focus on exiting “anything not profitable” and looking to renegotiate “onerous” contracts, sometimes personally.
There has been pushback, however, with the boss of the Emirates airline saying Rolls engines used in the Airbus A350 were “defective”, which some analysts said was likely to be part of the cut and thrust of negotiations.
Today's capital markets day event, taking place in London, was headlined by the overall aim of making the group “financially stronger and more resilient”, including a 2027 target of £2.5-£2.8 billion operating profit and free cashflow of at least £2.8 billion.
Analysts said this was ahead of current City forecasts and that Rolls-Royce could re-start dividend payments, paused since 2019, from next year.
Disposals, of which £1-1.5 billion are targeted, and partnerships to reduce spending on some non-core activities are also planned.
That the company's shares have soared this year reflects positive market reaction to Erginbilgic's strategic decisions and man-of-action persona, but also a large degree of timing - as highlighted in some prominent articles in recent weeks - he has benefitted from previous contracts coming in and engineering problems at rival Pratt & Whitney.
While it's still pretty early days, initial signs are encouraging – promising to quadruple profits can feel that way – and investors seem to feel grateful that BP's loss looks to be Rolls' gain.