THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Saturday, July 29, 1995 TAG: 9507290292
SECTION: BUSINESS PAGE: D2 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: ASSOCIATED PRESS
DATELINE: NEW YORK LENGTH: Short : 38 lines
James River Corp., the maker of Dixie cups and Brawny paper towels, disclosed Friday that it will cut 4,440 jobs by the end of 1998, the equivalent of almost 20 percent of its consumer products work force in North America and Europe.
The company's stock shot up 28 percent to a new high in heavy trading after it provided details of the retrenchments that are aimed at saving $640 million by the end of the cutbacks.
The Richmond-based manufacturer employs 22,700 people in its North American and European consumer products businesses and has $6.3 billion in annual sales. It did not say where the cuts would be made, and company officials were not available for comment.
Following its disclosure at an analysts meeting earlier in New York, James River stock surged $7.25 to close at $33 a share on the New York Stock Exchange. Trading volume was nearly 5.6 million shares, about 18 times the recent average daily volume of nearly 309,000 shares.
Robert C. Williams, the company's co-founder and chief executive, also said in the statement that the search for a new CEO was nearly complete. Williams did not identify any candidates, saying only the new chief executive would come from outside James River.
The company said the job cuts are part of an ongoing restructuring. In March, James River said it would spin off its money-losing commercial paper subsidiary into a new, publicly traded company and distribute its shares to current James River investors. by CNB