Beckman Loses $320 Million, Will Lay Off 600
Beckman Instruments Inc. said Monday that it lost $320.2 million for the fourth quarter and will dismiss 600 employees worldwide as it merges operations from its October purchase of Coulter Corp.
Beckman, operating as Beckman Coulter, said 38 administrative employees at its Fullerton headquarters will be among those dismissed. The company employs about 2,000 at its main office and medical instrument manufacturing plant.
The rest of the job loss will come from Coulter operations in Florida and Europe. The reduction amounts to about 5% of its total work force.
“All of this was anticipated,” said Michael J. Whelan, a Beckman spokesman. “It’s part of the integration of the two companies to get combined efficiencies.”
The biggest single cut, 231 jobs, will be in Luton, England, where Beckman will shut down a Coulter facility and move the operations to Florida. About 200 jobs will be eliminated in Florida.
“It’s not much,” said industry analyst Robert C. Dunne of Wasserstein Perella Securities in New York. “But,” he said, predicting more job cuts, “that’s not all it’s going to be.”
The company isn’t talking about more dismissals, though. It’s done enough to reach its goals through 1999 of realizing operating efficiencies and regaining investment-grade ratings for its bonds, Whelan said. However, over the next three or four years, he said, Beckman will likely see a modest reduction in staff through attrition.
The quarterly loss came mainly from a $318.4-million charge the company took to write off restructuring costs as well as research and development costs it acquired with Coulter.
Dunne pointed out that the largest part of the charge, $282 million, wipes out a big chunk of research and development costs. Down the line, it will help the company pay off its huge debt load sooner.
Neither the quarterly loss of $11.63 a share nor the restructuring surprised Wall Street. Beckman forecast those results when it acquired privately held Coulter for $1.15 billion in cash and assumed debts.
Beckman’s stock dropped 6 cents a share to close Monday at $41.81 on the New York Stock Exchange.
For the final quarter of 1996, Beckman earned $23.3 million, or 84 cents a share. Quarterly sales were $423.9 million, with Coulter, compared to $285.2 million for the last three months of 1996.
For the year, Beckman lost $264.4 million, or $9.58 a share, contrasted with 1996 earnings of $74.4 million, or $2.66 a share. Its annual sales rose 20% to $1.2 billion from $1 billion.
