Business News
Hardinge Inc. Announces Cost Cutting Actions in Response to Global Economic Conditions
Monday 15. December 2008 - Hardinge Inc. (NASDAQ-GS: HDNG), a leading international provider of advanced material-cutting solutions today announced actions taken in response to significantly lower order activity to date in the fourth quarter compared to the prior year, reflecting a continued deterioration in global economic conditions.
“The crisis in the functioning of the global financial markets appears to be affecting the ability of our customers to obtain and finalize credit and to make final order placement decisions,” said Richard L. Simons, President and Chief Executive Officer. “This market paralysis is making it very challenging for Hardinge, along with other companies, to determine what level of business activity to expect for the remainder of 2008, as well as during 2009.”
In response to these uncertain conditions, the Company has taken a number of actions to control expenses, including recent staff reductions of approximately 70 employees in our North American operations for a total reduction of approximately 160 employees during 2008. These recent actions were across all organizational functions, with the exception of engineering, reflecting management’s belief that the Company must maintain its investment in product development, one of Hardinge’s primary competitive strengths. The Company will also shut down manufacturing operations for a two week period over the holidays at our US manufacturing facility, and has reduced production hours at our Taiwan and China manufacturing facilities in response to the current lower order volumes. In addition, the Company has made cuts in its discretionary spending in order to reduce future SG&A expenses.
“Despite this recessionary global business environment, we anticipate positive cash flow in 2008 and 2009,” continued Mr. Simons. “We have managed through other challenging business cycles and believe we are well positioned to successfully work through this one. We understand the steps we have taken to adjust to the global economic situation are difficult on our employees; however, we believe that these actions will enable Hardinge to emerge a stronger Company.”