James L. Sanford
Corporate Vice President and Treasurer, Northrop Grumman Corporation

Capital Structure Assessment

James L. Sanford is Corporate Vice President and Treasurer for Northrop Grumman, responsible for cash management, risk management, capital markets, pension and savings investments and trust management. He is also responsible for execution of the company's mergers and acquisitions endeavors.

Sanford joined Northrop Grumman in 1985 as Manager of Contracts and Pricing at the company's former B-2 Division.

Northrop Grumman Corporation is a global defense company headquartered in Los Angeles, Calif. Northrop Grumman provides technologically advanced, innovative products, services and solutions in systems integration, defense electronics, information technology, advanced aircraft, shipbuilding and space technology. With 125,000 employees, and operations in all 50 states and 25 countries, Northrop Grumman serves U.S. and international military, government and commercial customers.

From 1988-1996, Sanford served as Assistant Treasurer and Corporate Director of Banking and International Finance, where he was responsible for banking, cash management, credit matters and the formulation and administration of procedures relating to international finance, customer financing proposals, leasing, guarantees, and foreign exchange. He arranged the financing for the acquisition of Grumman Corporation, Vought Aircraft Company and the Westinghouse Electronic Systems Group.

From 1996-2003, Sanford was Vice President of Contracts and Pricing, responsible for company wide policy, direction and oversight of contracts and pricing matters, government cost accounting and the administration of corporate restructuring proposals. Sanford successfully settled the second largest U.S. Air Force mediation using an Alternative Dispute Resolution process, an achievement recognized by the U.S. Office of Management and Budget and the U.S. Department of Justice with a first-ever award presented in 2002 while holding this position.

Sanford is an appointed member of the board of visitors, Defense Acquisition University, and was recently appointed by the Federal Reserve Board of Governors as the current Chairman of the Board of Directors of the Los Angeles Branch of the Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco (12th District).

Presentation Objectives:

The session is intended to familiarize participants with the key elements of a company's capital structure assessment. Participants should gain an appreciation and understanding of the key tradeoffs which must be evaluated in capital structure decisions. These tradeoffs include: Cost of Capital (lower cost of debt financing), Rating implications for publicly traded firms, Overall maturity mix and fixed vs. floating considerations, Significance of Retaining adequate resources for investments, including Mergers and Acquisitions, Affect on equity (stock price); Commitments to return cash to the shareholders - either as dividends or through share repurchase programs.