clarinews@clarinet.com (01/19/90)
NEW CANAAN, Conn. (UPI) -- Smith Corona Corp., which reported a 14 percent dip in net income Thursday, said it would lay off 100 additional employees at its Cortland, N.Y., facility because of expected soft retail sales. The company reported net income of $12 million, or 40 cents a share, in its second quarter ended Dec. 31, 1989, down from $14 million, or 46 cents a share, in the same period the year before. Sales were about $129 million, up from $127 million in the second quarter of the previous year. Because of an anticipated softness at the retail level, Smith Corona said it would continue a shortened work week at its Cortland facility ``until such time as inventory levels are fully in line with demand.'' The company also said it planned to lay off about 100 additional employees in Cortland. In August, Smith Corona announced it was laying off 150 employees in Singapore and 300 employees in Cortland. For the first six months of the company's fiscal year, net income was about $28 million, or 94 cents a share, up 9 percent from $26 million, or 86 cents a share, in the previous-year period. The 1988 results included charges of $2.5 million and $4.7 million pre-tax, or 5 cents a share, and $1.6 million and $3 million after-tax, or 10 cents a share, for the three months and six months, respectively, related to a now-terminated supplemental performance plan, the company said. The performance plan was terminated with the Aug. 3, 1989, public offering of stock, officers said. The company also said the 1988 results were reported on a pro forma basis that had been adjusted for the public offering and debt financing. ``Despite a continued softening in the economy evidenced throughout the retail sector, we were able to turn in a reasonable performance,'' said Smith Corona Chairman G. Lee Thompson. ``Earnings for the quarter reflect a weaker retail environment than in the prior year's quarter and inventory write-downs,'' Thompson added. ``Without these write-downs, results would have been almost equal to last year's second-quarter levels before the supplemental performance plan charges.''