Uniroyal announces staff reductions and consolidation program
These prudent restructuring actions will enable the Company to more effectively address the needs of our business. Combined with favorable long- term trends in our Compound Semiconductor & Optoelectronics segment, I believe UTC will be well positioned for a solid performance in 2002 and beyond, reported Howard R. Curd, Chairman and CEO of Uniroyal Technology Corporation.
Our commitment to becoming a cutting edge technology company remains as we divest our legacy businesses to redeploy the proceeds into the areas of optoelectronics and silicon carbide technology. The decision to reduce our workforce was a tough one. But in order to facilitate our consolidation, it became necessary to reduce headcount in the Compound Semiconductor & Optoelectronics segment and to eliminate corporate functions that did not directly support that segment.
This consolidation is part of our long term vision for UTC. Unfortunately, our position has not been helped by the sluggish economic conditions and the events of Sept 11th which had a costly effect on the yield from the sale of our Specialty Adhesives division. These combined conditions have also affected the timing of the sale of our attractive Coated Fabrics segment, which will also provide funding for the Company s transition.
UTC also reported that as part of the consolidation it has implemented a company-wide salary freeze, together with a cut in the base salaries of its key executive officers, and the elimination of any bonuses for Fiscal 2001. This long-term plan is targeted to further help improve the Company s cash flow and propel its move towards profitability. None of the cost cutting measures have impacted the Research & Development functions or meaningfully affected the production capabilities of the Company.
Howard R. Curd added, In the last two years, UTC has spent approximately $60 million for capital expenditures to retrofit facilities and increase production capabilities to position the Company for meaningful growth. Our timely consolidation will position us to grasp the opportunities provided by a recovering economy and UTC will have a sharpened focus that will enable us to capitalize on the growth of our emerging technologies.
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