Pilkington - Reorganization Plans Unveiled

Pilkington has unveiled its latest restructuring plans. Last October the company reported interim results for the 6-months to 30 Sept and officially announced that it intends to reduce its workforce by 6000 by March 31, 1999. Redundancies and the disposal of certain businesses are the means Pilkington intends to adopt. Chief executive Paolo Scaroni's target is to reduce the company's £1bn overheads by £100m by April 1998 and by around £200m within 18 months. In Europe, 60 of the group's 170 sites will be merged, sold or closed down, mostly in the UK where Pilkington is expected to close or sell around 30 of its 55 units - and in Germany. Worldwide, the company's workforce will be reduced from 38,000 to 32,000 by March 1999.