United Technologies Corp. is cutting costs aggressively, particularly at its Carrier heating and air conditioning systems manufacturer as the business unit reels from the downturn in construction and transportation refrigeration, the chief executive officer said Tuesday.
Still, CEO Louis Chenevert said at the Electrical Products Group conference in Longboat Key, Fla., that he expects earnings growth next year for the industrial conglomerate.
United Technologies expects to cut selling and administrative expenses this year at Carrier by 15 percent from 2008, research and development by 20 percent, labor costs by 25 percent, capital spending by 35 percent and other cost reductions, Chenevert said.
Throughout the corporation, United Technologies will realize $1 billion in cost savings this year, half from cost reductions such as travel restrictions and a hiring freeze and the rest from restructuring this year and in 2008.
It has cut its work force by 18,000, or about 8 percent of its global labor force, Chenevert said.
United Technologies, which also operates jet engine maker Pratt & Whitney, aerospace manufacturer Hamilton Sundstrand, Otis elevator and other businesses is pursuing a previously announced $750 million restructuring program for the year. (AP)
Wolin Wins Senate OK
The U.S. Senate last week confirmed Neal Wolin, a former executive at The Hartford, to be deputy Treasury secretary.
Wolin was approved by the Senate by unanimous consent, Reuters reported. He was general counsel for the Treasury from 1999 to 2001.
Just prior to his nomination by President Obama, he served as White House deputy counsel for economic policy.
He previously served as chief operating officer of The Hartford Financial Services Group Inc.’s property and casualty operations.
Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner initially had battled the global financial crisis with a small circle of advisers and few confirmed appointees in top posts, but has been gradually filling out the department’s ranks, Reuters reported.
