Belden is closing its copper cable products manufacturing plant in Manchester, Conn., and cutting approximately 132 jobs in an effort to reduce production expenses, the company said Wednesday.
The plant, part of Belden's Specialty Division, will be shut down by September with production moved to other company facilities. Affected employees will be eligible for severance benefits.
Belden said the move will save the company approximately $5 million annually, beginning in 2009.
"It is a difficult, but necessary step in the implementation of our regional manufacturing strategy," John Stroup, president and CEO of Belden, said in a statement. "The expected cost savings associated with this action are further benefit of this strategy and take advantage of our lower cost capacity at the recently completed Nogales, Mexico facility."
Belden expects to incur severance charges of approximately $1 million to $2 million pretax during the shut-down period and impairment charges $8 to $11 million mostly in the first quarter. The impact will decrease earnings by 11 cents to 16 cents per share.
St. Louis-based Belden designs, manufactures and markets signal transmission products for data networking and specialty electronics applications.
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