TOWSON, Md. (AP) -- Black & Decker Corp. will lay off 700 employees and close a plant in Arkansas in the wake of a disappointing quarterly report.
Black & Decker is closing its pressure washer plant in Decatur, Ark., which has about 80 employees. The plant had about 150 full-time and 100 part-time workers as recently as last year.
The Towson-based toolmaker made the announcement Thursday after reporting that first-quarter earnings were down 37.6 percent from the same period last year.
The company blamed the slumping housing market and the subprime mortgage crisis for many of its woes.
''The U.S. housing downturn and related credit tightening have sharply lowered demand for tools, locksets and faucets,'' Chief Financial Officer Michael D. Managan said during a conference call with analysts.
The company has begun sending out notices to the 700 people who'll lose their jobs. Of those workers, 250 are in administrative positions and 450 are plant employees, but it hasn't yet specified publicly where all of them work.
An office in Florida that the company acquired in 2006 when it purchased Vector Products will also be shuttered.
The plant in Decatur was bought by Black & Decker in 2004 from Minnesota-based tool manufacturer Pentair. DeVilbiss AirPower Co. of Jackson, Tenn., owned the plant for three years before selling to Pentair in 1999.
Black & Decker employs about 25,000 people worldwide. The impact of the layoffs on the company's Towson headquarters was unclear, but company spokesman Roger Young said ''a good number will be in Maryland.''
The company reported first-quarter earnings of $1.09 per share, down from $1.61 per share in the same period a year ago. Despite Thursday's news, its stock price closed at $67.89, up $1.07. Shares were down 60 cents to $67.29 in afternoon trading Friday.
Analysts said the company likely had little choice but to make cuts.
''Their costs continue to go up and they haven't really been able to pass that on,'' said John Kearney, a Chicago-based equity analyst with Morningstar Inc. ''It's just a tough environment. You have to cut costs if you're not generating the revenue.''
