4 December 1997: The US firm Apogee Enterprises Inc. recently announced an after-tax charge of US$ 16 million, or US$ 0.56 a share, in the third quarter ending on 29 November.
The charge is related t…
4 December 1997: The US firm Apogee Enterprises Inc. recently announced an after-tax charge of US$ 16 million, or US$ 0.56 a share, in the third quarter ending on 29 November. The charge is related to the curtainwall unit of Apogee“s Building Products & Services segment. The US$ 26 million pre-tax provision includes amounts for restructuring and other non-recurring items associated with the unit“s European operations, Apogee said. “The restructuring activities will rationalise the scope and focus of our curtainwall unit,” Donald Goldfus, chairman, said in a statement. “We expect that the actions we have taken will better enable our curtainwall business to operate profitably by focusing on the US and UK markets.” The restructuring includes the closing of the Building Products & Services segment“s Asian offices and the rationalisation of its project management, engineering and European manufacturing capacity. The restructuring charge includes amounts for severance and termination benefits for employees in France, Asia and the United States; the write-down of property and equipment and other long-term assets to their net realisable values; as well as other items such as lease termination costs. The provision will also include amounts for the estimated loss associated with certain disputed construction contracts in Europe together with costs associated with the resolution of legal proceedings related to the organisational changes in its European curtainwall unit (see the 27 November Weekly World News story).