PPG Industries has announced a restructuring program that includes the elimination of 1,100 positions at the company, or 2.3% of the company’s global workforce. The cuts are in response to a loss in business at the company’s US architectural coatings business as well as sustained, elevated raw material inflation, PPG said in a regulatory filing.
A pretax restructuring charge of $80 million to $85 million will be recorded in the second quarter 2018 financial results, of which about $75 million to $80 million represents employee severance and other cash costs. The remainder represents the write-down of certain assets and other non-cash costs.
In addition, other cash costs of up to $35 million to $40 million are expected, consisting of incremental restructuring-related cash costs for certain items that are required to be expensed on an as-incurred basis of approximately $15 million and approximately $20 million to $25 million for items which are expected to be capitalized, PPG says. The company expects the cash payback of the restructuring program to be less than two years.
“These business-restructuring actions, while always difficult decisions, are needed to ensure that our cost structure is appropriate for business conditions and that our operations remain globally competitive,” a PPG spokesperson tells CW. He added that no additional details are available at this time.
In February, PPG suffered a setback when Lowe’s said it will stop selling PPG’s Olympic brand paints and stains later this year. Lowe’s signed a deal for Sherwin-Williams to become its exclusive US supplier for interior and exterior house paints. PPG said in February that sales at Lowe’s stores in the United States represent less than $300 million of its annual sales and that it would aggressively and appropriately adjust its cost structure to adapt to the change.
By Natasha Alperowicz
Source: Chemical Week
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