Olin to Trim 4,200 Jobs, Sell Units in Restructuring
Olin Corp. on Thursday announced a major reorganization of the company that will include the elimination of 4,200 jobs, the sale of some businesses and a pretax charge of $330 million against third-quarter earnings.
Olin said in a statement that the sale or shutdown of businesses will result in a work-force reduction of 3,500 employees and that another 700 salaried jobs will be eliminated.
A spokesman said Olin did not know how the workers would be let go, but he said the company currently does not have an early retirement plan in place.
Olin said it will write down some facilities that have been affected by overcapacity problems in basic chemicals and competition for U.S. markets. An Olin spokesman said the company is determining which plants will be sold; he also said it has not been determined which plants will be shut down.
The $330-million charge will translate to $230 million, or $10 per share, after taxes, the company said.
The charge will be taken through the sale or closing of businesses, permanent decommissioning of chemical facilities that are now on standby, the write-down of some facilities and assets “impaired by changed worldwide economic conditions” and the reduction of salaried positions, the statement said. Olin has not determined how the charge will be taken in each category.
$89-Million Net
John M. Henske, chairman and chief executive of Olin, said the company had been studying the long-term profit potential of each Olin operation for some time.
In 1984, Olin reported net income of $89 million on revenue of $2 billion. The year before, its earnings were $71.7 million on essentially the same revenue.
But in the first half of this year, profit has shown signs of slipping. Its net income for the first six months of 1985 was $31.4 million on revenue of $937.5 million.
The company said that, as a result of the restructuring and the recently completed sale of its Ecusta paper operation, its annual sales will be reduced by about $420 million.
