Brunswick to Shut Boat Plants, May Fire Up to 2,700 Workers as Sales Slump

from Bloomberg:



Brunswick to Shut Boat Plants, May Fire 2,700 Workers (Update2)

By Andrea Snyder

June 26 (Bloomberg) -- Brunswick Corp., the maker of bowling equipment and recreational boats, plans to close 12 plants and said it may fire as many as 2,700 workers after U.S. power-boat sales fell to the lowest in more than 40 years.

The company aims to decrease its fixed costs by $300 million from 2007, Lake Forest, Illinois-based Brunswick said today in a PR Newswire statement. The company had previously said it would close eight factories.

A shrinking U.S. job market, surging fuel prices and declining home values reduce consumers' ``ability and desire'' to buy boats, billiards tables and fitness equipment, Chief Executive Officer Dustan McCoy said in the statement.

``We are not assuming that these pressures will abate any time soon,'' McCoy said in the statement. ``We are planning for an environment in which the U.S. marine market will be smaller in the near term.''

Pretax restructuring charges, including asset writedowns, will total $200 million to $220 million, the boat maker said. Eighty-five percent of the charges will be recorded in 2008, the company estimated.

The company said it will host a conference call at 10 a.m. central daylight time to discuss the plant closures.

Brunswick fell 28 cents, or 2.3 percent, to $11.77 as of 9:33 a.m. in New York Stock Exchange composite trading. The shares sank 29 percent this year before today.


http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601087&sid=aT_PD6rQDw48&refer=home

I can't imagine the energy cost in creating a bowling ball but it has to be huge. The blue collar worker may not relate to that $20,000 recreational boat, except for the avid fishermen, but BOWLING? This is not good. You drive the cost of a bowling ball up because of oil prices and I guarantee you the blue collars are going to demand we drill our own oil.

:wtf: