PITTSBURGH (AP) -- PPG Industries Inc. announced Wednesday it will save about $100 million by closing several manufacturing plants in Canada and the Netherlands.
The restructuring is part of PPG's $3.2 billion acquisition earlier this year of SigmaKalon Group, a Dutch coatings maker. PPG is a supplier of paints, coatings, chemicals, optical products, specialty materials, glass and fiberglass.
A pretax charge of about $160 million, or 65 cents per share, will be recorded for the third quarter, which is due to be released Oct. 16.
Analysts surveyed by Thomson Financial forecast, on average, earnings per share of $1.49 in the third quarter.
As part of the restructuring, PPG will close coatings manufacturing facilities in Clarkson, Ontario, in the second quarter of 2009 and Geldermalsen in the Netherlands, which is set to close in next year's third quarter.
PPG also said it will close a glassmaking plant in Owen Sound, Ontario, and will idle a float glass production line in Mt. Zion, Ill., in the second quarter of 2009.
Other actions will include writing off idle production assets in PPG's fiber glass and chemicals businesses.
About 320 employees at the two Ontario plants and 110 workers in the Netherlands could be affected by the closings, spokesman Jeremy Neuhart said. That's about 2 percent of PPG's total work force of 14,000.
About 270 employees work at the Illinois plant, but idling the production line will affect an undetermined portion of the work force, Neuhart said.
Shares of PPG fell $2.29, or 3.7 percent, to $59.93 in midday trading.
