Teva Pharmaceutical to Cut 14,000 Jobs

By Austen Hufford

Teva Pharmaceutical Industries Ltd. is cutting more than 25% of its workforce and suspending its dividend as the company works to cut costs and pay down debt.

Teva said a two-year restructuring plan, which is expected to result in about 14,000 job cuts globally, will cut its total cost base by $3 billion by the end of 2019, out of an estimated $16.1 billion in 2017.

"We are taking immediate and decisive actions to reduce our cost base across our global business and become a more efficient and profitable company," Chief Executive Kare Schultz said in a news release.

The company said it would record a restructuring charge of at least $700 million in 2018, mainly related to severance costs.

The dividend suspension impacts both its ordinary shares in Tel Aviv and American depositary receipts trading.

In August, Teva lost about a quarter of its market value in one day on mounting concerns about the future of the company after it cut its full-year outlook and slashed its dividend, blaming the rapid deterioration of the U.S. generic-drug business. Teva took a $6.1 billion write-down on that unit and posted a quarterly net loss of $6.04 billion.

In September the company appointed Mr. Schultz, a nearly 30-year pharma industry veteran, as CEO to craft a path forward.

ADRs in Teva rose 7.3% in New York premarket trading.

Write to Austen Hufford at austen.hufford@wsj.com

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

December 14, 2017 08:00 ET (13:00 GMT)

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