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CNNfn after the bell
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February 22, 1999: 6:13 p.m. ET
Charges, job cuts, buybacks dominate news after Wall Street markets close
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NEW YORK (CNNfn) - More than 1,000 people were targeted after the bell Monday to lose their jobs, as three companies announced pending staff reductions and related charges. Two other companies, Nordstrom and ADC Telecommunications, reported earnings that met or exceeded forecasts, and two other firms announced stock buybacks.
Software company Platinum Technology International Inc. (PLAT) said Monday a previously announced plan to streamline operations will result in a charge of $90 to $110 million in the first quarter.
As part of the plan that Platinum said will generate $90 million in annual savings, the company will cut 15 percent of its workforce, or about 1,000 jobs.
Media company Primedia (PRM), whose brands include Seventeen, Modern Bride and the Channel One Network, also announced it was taking a charge and cutting jobs.
The company said it would close five unprofitable new product lines from its Primedia Workplace Learning unit and would reduce its staff by 100 people, or more than 20 percent of the workforce at its Carrollton, Texas, facility, most of whom worked for the soon-to-be-closed product lines.
In addition, Primedia said it is selling its accounting and financial television network -- AFTN and The CPA Report, and that in connection with the closings and sale, the company would take a first quarter, pre-tax charge of $20 to $24 million.
Crown American Realty Trust (CWN) announced it would trim its corporate workforce by 15 people, or about 8 percent, and slash executive salaries by as much as 14 percent in a bid to streamline operations and cut costs. The real estate investment trust, which develops regional malls, also said it expects to incur an unspecified first-quarter charge related to the job cuts.
In earnings news, Nordstrom Inc. (NOBE) posted fourth quarter and year-end earnings in line with analysts' expectations. The retailer reported quarterly net earnings of $67 million, or 47 cents per diluted shares, up from the $59.1 million, or 38 cents per share, in the year-earlier period. Its net sales, however, fell 0.6 percent to $1.446 billion from the same quarter in 1997.
For the year, Nordstrom posted net earnings of $206.72 billion, or $1.41 a diluted share, vs. $186.21 billion, or $1.20 per share, in 1997. Its net sales reached $5.03 billion, compared with $4.85 billion the year before.
ADC Telecommunications (ADCT) beat the Street by a penny in its first-quarter results. Before one-time charges, the telecom systems provider posted net earnings of $34 million, or 25 cents per diluted share, vs. $25 million, or 19 cents per share, in the year-ago period. The company took a charge totaling $47 million, connected mostly to the company's recent acquisitions of Teledata Communications, Hadax Electronics and Phasor Electronics.
Two companies reported stock buybacks after hours. Pharmaceutical company Biogen Inc. (BGEN), maker of Avonex, the world's most widely prescribed drug for multiple sclerosis, said Monday its board approved the repurchase of up to 4 million shares, or 5.3 percent of its stock.
Likewise, software company OrCAD (OCAD) said Monday its board of directors had authorized the repurchase up to 500,000 shares of the company's common stock.
-- from staff and wire reports
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