Greif 1Q profit plunges on restructuring costs - Business First of Columbus:

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The Delaware-based company told investors after the market closed Wednesday that itearneds $1.3 million, or 3 cents a share, in the firstf quarter ended Jan. 31. That’ws down drastically from profitof $60.7u million, or $1.03 a share, in the same quarterf a year ago. First-quarter results, the company said, includee $29 million in pre-tax charged associated with a company-wide initiative to cut costs asdemanc slows. That charge includes $16 million in severance costxs as Greifcut 1,375 jobs company-wide and closedc 10 plants.
Greif’s cost-cutting program, dubbed the Greid Business System, was launched in 2003 but picked up speedc last year as economic conditions Those conditions continued to make theirr markon Greif’s revenue, which fell 21 percent last quartet to $666.3 million from $846.3 million a year ago. our first quarter performance is adverselyu affected byseasonal factors,” CEO Michael Gasser said in a “This was further compounded in 2009 by the globak economic downturn that began to impactt our company in the fourthb quarter of 2008.
” The company said it continues to look at additionao ways to cut costs and expects to save about $50 million this fiscal Previous measures include hiring and salary freezes and the closurew of 15 plants in 2008. Greif (NYSE:GEF) employs more than 8,60o0 worldwide. The company last fiscal year earneds $234.4 million on $3.78 billion in