Newell Rubbermaid (NWL -0.43%), the company behind such beloved brands as Graco, Sharpie, Paper Mate -- and of course Rubbermaid -- on Friday announced a plan to reorganize itself into six divisions:
- Tools: Irwin and Lenox tools and Dymo industrial
- Commercial Products: Rubbermaid Commercial Products and Rubbermaid Healthcare
- Writing: Sharpie, Paper Mate, Expo, Prismacolor, Parker and Waterman
- Baby & Parenting: Graco, Aprica and Teutonia
- Home Solutions: Rubbermaid, Calphalon, Levolor, Kirsch and Goody
- Specialty: Bulldog, Ashland, Shur-Line, Dymo office, Endicia and Mimio
In the process, the company plans to shed some 1,900 jobs globally over the next two-and-a-half years, slightly more than 10% of its work force.
Rubbermaid bills the reorganization-cum-layoff as a means of improving profitability by cutting $180 million to $225 million in annual costs. To accomplish this, the firm plans to incur $225 million to $250 million in total restructuring costs between now and the second quarter of 2015.
Rubbermaid's Q3 earnings reports, also released Friday, featured a 0.9% decline in sales year over year, alongside a $0.37-per-share profit -- a reversal of last year's Q3 $0.61 loss. The company also raised its dividend to $0.60 per year, for a dividend yield of 2.9%.
