Union Camp Plans Layoffs, Charge

Union Camp Corp. said it will cut about 540 jobs as the ninth-largest U.S. paper and chemicals company tries to save about $42 million a year in costs amid dismal global markets for its paper products. The company said it will take a pretax third-quarter charge of about $49 million for the job cuts--constituting about 3% of its 18,000-person work force--and write-downs of some assets it plans to sell. As a result, net after-tax income will fall by about $31 million, or 45 cents a share, the company said. Wayne, N.J.-based Union Camp said the cuts will start in the next quarter and will be completed by the end of 1999. The company is aiming to cut costs by streamlining operations such as research and development as it nears completion of a goal set in 1996 to boost annual pretax profit by $100 million. The company also said its board boosted its current stock repurchase program by about 5 million shares. Its shares closed up 19 cents at $41.19 on the New York Stock Exchange.