Combined with Previously Announced Actions, Company Plans to Reduce Global
Workforce by 7 Percent
WEST KINGSTON, R.I., Sept. 22 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- American Power
Conversion (Nasdaq: APCC) (APC) today announced cost reduction actions that
call for a 4 percent reduction of the company's global workforce or
approximately 330 jobs. When combined with the job reductions in Ireland
announced in June, the company has plans to reduce approximately 7 percent
of its workforce or 580 positions worldwide. In total, APC expects annual
pre-tax savings of approximately $32 million from the combined actions,
principally in 2007, with pre-tax savings of approximately $5 million
anticipated in the fourth quarter of 2006.
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"APC's management team and I have taken a comprehensive look at our
business, our strategy and our teams, and we believe APC has an opportunity
to realign resources, increase productivity and continue growing the
business," explained Rob Johnson, APC's president and chief executive
officer. "This does not mean we are decreasing our commitment to our data
center and InfraStruXure(R) initiatives or to our core uninterruptible
power supply (UPS) business. We remain significantly committed to
succeeding at the businesses we operate in and will make the appropriate
investments required to accomplish this objective and better meet customer
needs. But we do believe by realigning resources against several key
applications, specifically Home and Distributed Systems, Enterprise
Systems, Software and Management, Industrial, Access Providers and Global
Services, our global teams will be more productive and have a better
opportunity to drive profitable business expansion.
"This is an extremely difficult decision to make, and one I do not take
lightly," continued Johnson. "But given the company's recent financial
performance, it is essential to ensure our continued competitiveness in the
market."
The job reductions announced today will impact employees worldwide in
multiple company functions. In June, APC announced plans to reduce 200 to
250 positions in Ireland, primarily in the manufacturing, operations and
customer support areas.
Financial Summary
As previously mentioned, the company expects pre-tax savings of
approximately $5 million in the fourth quarter of 2006. Additionally, the
company anticipates incurring total costs of approximately $10 million to
$12 million, including costs associated with the previously announced
streamlining of operations in Ireland. These costs will be recognized
predominantly in the third and fourth quarters of 2006 as required by
generally accepted accounting principles and consisting primarily of
one-time employee severance costs. The company foresees completing the
combined actions in the first quarter of 2007 and that all of the expected
costs will be financed from available operating cash.
In addition to these costs, APC will record approximately $1.5 million
in the third quarter of 2006 for severance payments to the company's former
president and CEO, Rodger B. Dowdell, Jr., in accordance with the
previously disclosed severance and compensation agreement between the
company and Mr. Dowdell.
Finally, also in the third quarter, the company anticipates recording a
net tax credit of approximately $12 million or $0.06 per share associated
with the adjustment of income tax provisioning resulting from the outcome
of recent tax audits.
Safe Harbor Provision
This press release contains forward-looking statements as that term is
defined in the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. All
statements in this press release that do not describe historical facts,
such as statements concerning the Company's future plans or prospects are
forward-looking statements. All forward-looking statements are not
guarantees and are subject to risks and uncertainties that could cause
actual results to differ from those projected. The factors that could cause
actual results to differ materially include the following: the Company's
ability to achieve the targeted job reductions and savings announced today;
the Company's ability to improve the execution of its operations processes
and eliminate operational waste and excess expense; ramp up, expansion,
transfer and rationalization of global manufacturing capacity, including
successfully consolidating its Irish manufacturing operations in Castlebar,
Ireland and redeploying certain customer-facing positions within the
Europe, Middle East and Africa region; the Company's ability to effectively
align operating expenses and production capacity with the current demand
environment; changes that may result from finalization of Company's
quarterly financial results; and the risks described from time to time in
the Company's filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission.
About American Power Conversion
Founded in 1981, American Power Conversion (Nasdaq: APCC) (APC) is a
leading provider of global, end-to-end solutions for real-time
infrastructure. APC's comprehensive products and services for home and
corporate environments improve the availability, manageability and
performance of sensitive electronic, network, communication and industrial
equipment of all sizes. APC offers a wide variety of products for
network-critical physical infrastructure including InfraStruXure(R), its
revolutionary architecture for on-demand data centers, as well as physical
threat management products through the company's NetBotza division. These
products and services help companies increase the availability and
reliability of their IT systems. Headquartered in West Kingston, Rhode
Island, APC reported sales of $2 billion for the year ended December 31,
2005, and is a Fortune 1000, Nasdaq 100 and S&P 500 Company.
All trademarks are the property of their respective owners.
For more information contact:
Investors:
Debbie Hancock, APC director, investor relations, 401-789-5735, ext. 2994,
debbie.hancock@apcc.com
Media:
Chet Lasell, APC director, public relations-North America, 800-788-2208,
ext. 2693, chet.lasell@apcc.com
SOURCE American Power Conversion
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Related links: http://www.apc.com
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CONTACT: Debbie Hancock, director, investor relations, +1-401-789-5735, ext. 2994, debbie.hancock@apcc.com, or Chet Lasell, director, public relations -- North America, 800-788-2208 ext. 2693, chet.lasell@apcc.com, both of APC
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