A. Schulman to curtail 104 workforce; 2009 forecast withdrawn

03-Mar-09

A. Schulman, a global supplier of high-performance plastic compounds and resins, has announced to curtail its workforce by 64 positions and reduce capacity by 5% to restructure its international operations affecting both European and Mexican facilities. By the period ending May 31, 2009, the Company expects an overall annual savings of approximately US$2.5 mln to US$3.0 mln after-tax on these actions. In addition, the company will cut reduce international SG&A by eliminating 40 positions to achieve savings of approximately US$2.0 mln to US$2.5 mln after-tax, which includes 19 positions related to the previously announced. The company has announced withdrawal from its previous fiscal 2009 financial guidance, issued on January 9, 2009 due to failure in demand recovery for period ending February 28, 2009. All the above decisions of the company will lead to a total annual after-tax benefit of approximately US$4.5 mln to US$5.5 mln out of which one-fourth is expected to be realized during period ending August 31, 2009. Over the next few quarters, the company is expected to take following estimated after-tax charges related to the restructuring activities including termination benefits and other employee costs (US$3.5 mln to US$4.0 mln); contract terminations and legal expenses (US$0.4 mln to US$0.5 mln) and non-cash accelerated depreciation expense (US$1.0 mln).