DM printer Banta Corp., Menasha, WI, said it will close three plants where 350 people work and eliminate 300 other positions, for a total of about 9.2% of its 7,000-member work force.
The company also said its earnings per share in the first half of the year will be lower. It attributed the expected decline to continued losses at the three operations being closed and volume shortfalls at its long-run direct mail and consumer catalog plants.
Banta is closing its prepress facility in Charlotte, NC, a mailing and fulfillment operation in Berkeley, IL, and a printing plant in Kent, WA. The printing plant has historically served the software documentation market, but has seen its business decline as electronic documentation has displaced printed manuals.
The company said it would realize savings from the cuts beginning with $5 million to $7 million in the second half of 1999. It will take a restructuring charge of between $50 million and $55 million in the second quarter of 1999.
