Ansell has said it will make a number of limited operational changes to the company in a bid to offset adverse currency movements and the effects of continued economic uncertainty in some developed and emerging markets.
The company said today it will close a number of underutilised office and warehouses and transfer a number of back room roles in supply chain and finance to shared service centres at lower cost locations.
Ansell flagged changes to its product lines and sales force, saying there will be a cost reduction and rationalisation to improve performance of certain non-core product lines and a limited realignment of its sales force to improve its ability to partner with key distributors.
While the changes will deliver will an annualised pre-tax saving of $15m from fiscal 2017, the restructure will see Ansell book a one-off charge worth $17m, or $12.7m after tax, this financial year. The group said $12.5m is cash-based, while $4.5m was non-cash.
Ansell said the charge will be excluded from its full-year results, along with the gain of around $17.7m from the previously announced sale of its Shah Alam property.
Ansell shares dipped 2.19 per cent $23.72 by 1pm (AEST) against a benchmark index fall of 2 per cent.
By Michael Roddan
