Applied Materials to cut 1,300 to 1,500 jobs

[marmar]

AP via SFGate:



Applied Materials to cut 1,300 to 1,500 jobs
Wednesday, November 11, 2009


--------------------------------------------------------------------------------


Santa Clara, Calif. (AP) -- Applied Materials Inc. said Wednesday that fiscal fourth-quarter net income fell by 40 percent and announced it would cut 1,300 to 1,500 jobs to save money as it grapples with a business downturn.

The chip equipment maker said the job cuts represent 10 to 12 percent of its global work force and are part of a restructuring plan to save $450 million a year. That's in addition to the $460 million in cost cuts it achieved in fiscal 2009, which ended Oct. 25.

Applied Materials said it expects to take a pretax charge related to its restructuring plan of $100 million to $125 million, most of which will be booked in the first quarter. The job cuts will be completed over the next 18 months.

The company earned $137.9 million, or 10 cents per share, in the quarter, compared with $231.1 million, or 17 cents, in the same quarter a year earlier.

Excluding one-time items, the company earned $177 million, or 13 cents per share, compared with $37 million, or 3 cents. ..............(more)

The complete piece is at: http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/n/a/2009/11/11/financial/f133210S00.DTL&tsp=1

[Arctic Dave]

1. '10 to 12 percent of its global work force'

Care to make a wager that the "global" part is just in the US.