Philadelphia, Jan. 20 - Rohm and Haas Company today announced a second set of actions to adjust its operations and cost structure to reflect the slowing economy and widespread market weakness.
The initiatives, which build on actions announced in June of last year, will impact approximately 900 positions across all regions and businesses within the company except Salt, and are expected to result in approximately $90 million in pre-tax restructuring and asset impairment charges in the fourth quarter of 2008. The actions are expected to be completed predominantly in 2009, and are intended to deliver pre-tax run-rate savings of approximately $90 million.
“Our primary goal is to meet customer needs and position our company for success in growing markets,” said Raj L. Gupta, chairman and chief executive officer. “We will continue to aggressively protect our company from the challenges of deteriorating market conditions and a weakening economy.”
Actions announced today include:
Adjusting production schedules in some manufacturing facilities to reflect current market softness;
Realigning the company’s manufacturing footprint to better utilize assets, including idling or closing underutilized plants;
Reducing commercial-related positions that have been directly impacted by lower market demand; and
Freezing discretionary spending and employee salaries, where possible, for 2009.
Pierre R. Brondeau, president and chief operating officer, added, “Our actions today are intended to adjust our operations to current business conditions, which reflect softening markets worldwide. We will continue to control costs in order to compete effectively, while preserving our capacity to accelerate performance when markets recover.”
Outlook
The company also noted that it expects adjusted earnings per share from continuing operations for the fourth quarter of 2008 to exceed the current analyst consensus estimate.