The Canadian electronics components contract manufacturer had said on Thursday it planned to cut up to 15 per cent of its global workforce, or about 5,500 jobs.
Celestica (TSX:CLS.SV) said its restructuring would include some plant closures and a 10 per cent to 15 per cent reduction of its global workforce – about 5,500 employees – over the next 15 months.
It was unclear how many jobs would be affected at its Canadian headquarters and factory in Toronto where it employs an estimated 3,000 people. It already closed its Kirkland factory near Montreal last year.
Celestica has about 46,000 employees making electronics components for other companies in 19 locations worldwide.
The job cuts news came as Celestica also announced extraordinary charges of $836 million related to its workforce reduction and plant closures.
The charges were behind a near five-fold increase losses to $810 million US, or $3.59 US per share, for the fourth quarter ended Dec. 31. In the comparable quarter in 2003 the Celestica had lost $168 million, or 80 cents US a share.
Celestica shares lost 71 cents to close 4.3 per cent lower at $15.89 in Toronto.
The loss came despite a 22 per cent year-on-year increase in sales to $2.3 billion US, up from $1.9 billion US in the fourth quarter of 2003.
Celestica was able to grow its 2004 sales by 31 per cent to $8.8 billion US, compared with $6.7 billion US in 2003.
"While we have substantially strengthened our operations, further improvement is needed," chief executive Steve Delaney said.
"We have spent the past nine months carefully reviewing the business and, as a result, we have made the decision to further consolidate operations, largely in the higher cost geographies."
It is the latest in a series of restructuring measures implemented by the Toronto-based company in recent years. Previous lay-offs have seen Celestica cut about 18,500 employees as of the end of 2003, closing 29 plants, many of them in the United States.
- FROM OCT. 21, 2004: Celestica narrows Q3 net loss; sees 'soft' Q4
The biggest charge was a $387-million US non-cash writedown of its assets in the Americas and European regions. It is also reducing the value of some of its tax assets by $248 million US and increasing provisions for doubtful accounts by $161 million.
The latest restructuring will cost the company an additional $225 million to $275 million during 2005 and involve some more plant closures, Celestica said.
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