
                         Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: WEDNESDAY, February 15, 1995                   TAG: 9502160009
SECTION: BUSINESS                    PAGE: B-6   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: GREG EDWARDS STAFF WRITER
DATELINE:                                 LENGTH: Medium

BONTEX TO CUT COSTS

Georgia Bonded Fibers Inc., which makes a fiberboard-type material used in the shoe, clothing and automotive industries at a plant in Buena Vista, has launched "an aggressive cost-cutting plan'' that includes job cuts and the sale of company assets.

As part of the plan, the company confirmed Tuesday that it laid off 13 non-managerial workers Friday.

"In order to effectively manage costs relative to revenues, the restructuring plan will include reduction of staff and the disposal of certain assets," the company said in a statement. "The restructuring is expected to result in significant efficiency improvements at the Bontex Buena Vista plant and should contribute to the long-term profitability of the company."

James C. Kostelni, vice chairman and president of the Newark, N.J.-based company and its European subsidiaries, Bontex S.A. of Belgium and Bontex Italia of Italy, was traveling and unavailable for comment. Other company officials declined to speak in detail about the plan.

The cost-cutting efforts are not directly related to financial losses that the company reported for the first and second quarters of its fiscal year, which began July 1, 1994, the company said.

Bontex this month reported a loss of $65,000, equal to 4 cents per share of common stock, for the quarter ended Dec. 31, compared with earnings of $161,000 or 10 cents per share a year earlier. For the first half of the current fiscal year, the company's losses were $317,000, equal to 20 cents per share.

The company's board must give approval to the final restructuring plan, which has not been completed, the company said. It anticipates putting the plan into effect and completing it before July 1.

Last month, the company announced it had contracted with Hammond-Mitchell Inc. of Covington to build a $1.5 million wastewater treatment system at the Buena Vista plant to comply with the company's state wastewater permit.

The wastewater plant is part of a $3 million plant expansion that the company announced last year. The remainder of the 30,0000-square-foot expansion is still in the planning stage.

The state Transportation Board awarded the company an $80,000 grant last year to renovate railroad tracks that connect the plant with Norfolk Southern track. The plant's raw materials arrive by rail.

by CNB