Irvine’s Day Runner Cuts 350 Jobs as Demand Falls

Personal organizer maker Day Runner Inc. said it has cut 350 jobs, or 20% of its employment, from operations in Mexico, the United States and Canada to help adjust to reduced demand for its products.

The layoff announcement came as the Irvine-based company reported disappointing second-quarter earnings of $2.9 million, or 23 cents a share, down 47% from $5.52 million, or 45 cents, a year earlier.

Revenue for the period ended Dec. 31 increased 31% to $64.6 million from $49.4 million, largely because of Day Runner’s recent acquisition of Britain’s Filofax Group Plc.

Day Runner attributed its disappointing earnings to “inventory tightening” by a number of its largest U.S. customers and said the problem won’t get better any time soon.

“The rest of our fiscal year ending June 30 will be difficult,” James E. Freeman, Day Runner’s chief executive, said in a statement.

In addition to job cuts, Day Runner may cut planned capital expenditures, along with day-to-day operating expenses, to boost earnings, Freeman said.

Company officials could not be reached to comment on the layoffs and it was not clear whether any of the jobs eliminated in the past few days came from Day Runner’s Orange County headquarters’ work force.