Baldwin Restructuring Plans and Other Initiatives Extend Cost Savings to Over $20 Million
April 06 2009 - 5:37PM
Business Wire
Baldwin Technology Company, Inc. (NYSE Amex:BLD), a global
leader in process automation technology for the printing industry,
announced today that it is undertaking additional personnel
reductions in the U.S., Germany, Sweden and Italy in order to
competitively position the company in the continuing global
economic downturn.
This extension of earlier cost saving measures originally
initiated in 2008 in anticipation of a softening of the global
markets, combined with other direct and indirect savings in the
company�s manufacturing cost structure is expected to be in excess
of $20 million annually.
Specific Steps
Baldwin President and CEO Karl Puehringer said, �Although we
have aggressively made adjustments to address the slowdown in our
industry, we felt it was prudent to take additional steps to
maximize the efficiencies of our global company and to be prepared
for further challenges. The business climate, both globally and
industry-wide, has continued to deteriorate, exerting negative
pressure on our business and the businesses of our customers.
�In the past two months we have completed several difficult but
necessary initiatives to ensure that we are able to weather the
current business downturn while remaining well positioned for
future growth. We have:
- Successfully consolidated
Baldwin Germany�s Egelsbach production operations into Baldwin
Germany�s Friedberg operations as of March 31, 2009;
- Closed Baldwin�s SSU office in
Italy and consolidated the sales efforts into Baldwin�s SSU France
office; and
- Made capacity adjustments within
the U.S., Germany, Sweden, Japan and the U.K., resulting in a
reduction of Baldwin�s worldwide workforce by 107 employees or 16%
of our worldwide employee base.�
Pursuing New Business Opportunities
Puehringer said, �These actions will greatly help mitigate the
effect of the tough business climate. At the same time, we will
continue to capitalize on opportunities that will allow us to
strengthen our global competitiveness and financial position and to
add value to our core business. To that end, we are pursuing
business opportunities by:
- Promoting and driving recurring
revenue through sales of consumables and parts, after-sales
service, upgrades and retrofits;
- Expanding our portfolio of
process automation systems through strategic alliances such as the
recently announced agreements with Betz Technologies GmbH and
Nordson; and
- Increasing penetration of
Baldwin�s improved technologies and products into emerging print
markets such as India and China.�
�These are significant and substantial steps, accomplished
without disruption in operations or on-time delivery of our
products and services. As a result, our company has never been
leaner. At the same time, I am confident about our future because
we are not only dealing effectively with the downturn but also
maintaining our capability to meet future growth demands with any
improvement in the economy, and we have actually improved our
competitive position in several strategic areas,� Puehringer
concluded.
In a related Form 8-K filing Baldwin included an overview of the
FY�09 restructuring costs and associated savings. The company also
announced that it has entered into a Modification and Limited
Waiver Agreement with Bank of America and other lenders for the
period from March 31, 2009 through May 15, 2009. Due to certain
restructuring charges taken by Baldwin during its third fiscal
quarter ended March 31, 2009, the company was not in compliance
with certain provisions of its credit agreement and consequently
entered into the Limited Waiver while continuing to work with its
lenders to amend the existing credit agreement to provide the
financing the company needs for its operations.
About Baldwin
Baldwin Technology Company, Inc. is a leading international
supplier of process automation equipment for the printing and
publishing industries. Baldwin offers its customers a broad range
of market-leading technologies, products and systems that enhance
the quality of printed products and improve the economic and
environmental efficiency of printing presses. Headquartered in
Shelton, Connecticut, the company has operations strategically
located in the major print markets and distributes its products via
a global sales and service infrastructure. Baldwin�s technology and
products include cleaning systems, fluid management and ink control
systems, web press protection systems and drying systems and the
related consumables. For more information, visit
http://www.baldwintech.com.
Information for investors, including an investment profile about
Baldwin is available at www.hawkassociates.com/profile/bld.cfm.
Investors may contact Julie Marshall or Frank Hawkins, Hawk
Associates, at (305) 451-1888, e-mail: baldwin@hawkassociates.com.
An online investor kit including press releases, current price
quotes, stock charts and other valuable information for investors
are available at http://www.hawkassociates.com.
This release contains certain forward-looking statements that
involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties or other factors not
under the company�s control, which may cause actual results,
performance or achievements of the company to be materially
different from the results, performance, or other expectations
implied by these forward-looking statements. These factors include,
but are not limited to, those detailed in the company�s periodic
filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission.
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