Danbury-based Praxair Inc. said today it will close plants in December and lay off 1,600 workers, a few of whom will be in Connecticut.
Praxair spokesman Nigel Muir said he had no immediate break down of which of the company’s 28,000 employees and plants worldwide are affected.
However, Muir said Praxair only has one Connecticut plant, which will remain open, and only “a few people” among its 500 Connecticut workers will be affected.
The industrial gas supplier said demand for its products fell off in November, and it expects additional customer plant closings in December.
The company plans to book pretax restructuring charges of about $120 million in the fourth quarter. The restructuring moves will save $80 million in fixed costs in 2009 and about $100 million annually afterward.
“We have moved quickly to take the necessary pre-emptive steps to make sure we have a cost structure appropriate to the current economic environment,” Chief Executive Steve Angel said in a statement. “The slowdown in commodity production and manufacturing has been unprecedented, and we believe customers are reducing inventory down the supply chain.”
He said the company expects production to increase in 2009. It also has a large backlog of new projects coming on stream in 2009 and 2010 which will grow sales and earnings, Angel said.
Praxair also expects to take a $55 million pretax charge related to the settlement of a social tax case in Brazil dating back to the 1980’s and increases in accruals reflecting recent developments for other cases. In total, the charge is expected to be about $175 million pretax, or about 37 cents per share, in the fourth quarter.
Fourth-quarter earnings per share are now expected to be in the range of 95 cents to $1, excluding the charge. The company earlier had expected earnings of $1.03 to $1.08 per share, excluding one-time items.
Analysts polled by Thomson Reuters expect, on average, earnings of $1.04 per share for the period. Analysts typically exclude one-time items.
At 11 a.m., Praxair shares, which have lost more than 35 percent of their value this year, traded at $58.26, up $1.31, or 2.3 percent. (AP)
