"Sepracor to shift focus, cut 530 jobs; Firm cites need to remain competitive" by Robert Weisman, Globe Staff | January 29, 2009
Marlborough drug manufacturer Sepracor Corp., shifting its focus and streamlining its operations in a slumping economy, yesterday said it would cut 530 jobs, roughly 20 percent of its workforce. The move, coming as Sepracor posted higher fourth-quarter profits, is intended to save about $210 million, including $20 million already shaved from its budget in the last three months of 2008.
It's the SAME DAMN THING every time!!!!!
You get the point, right, AmeriKa? PROFITS matter; YOU don't!!!!!!
Sepracor said it would reduce its corporate staff by 180 positions and its field staff by 350, though it didn't specify how many jobs would be eliminated overall in its home state of Massachusetts. The company said it would also cut 410 contract sales employees.
That adds up to more than 530.
In a statement, Adrian Adams, the Sepracor president and chief executive, said the company had to adapt to "a challenging time for the country and the pharmaceutical industry" to remain competitive. Company representatives didn't return phone calls and e-mail.
Aaaaaahhh! I see now!
Sepracor shares surged nearly 15 percent in after-hours trading.... Ian Sanderson, chief pharmaceutical analyst for the Cowen and Co. research firm in Boston. Sanderson said the timing "makes g
reat strategic sense" because Sepracor's insomnia drug, Lunesta, will be facing increased competition this year as generic versions of Ambien CR, its chief rival, come onto the market....
Yeah, GREAT TIMING -- unless YOU are the one being FIRED!!!
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And the BOYCOTT must be having some effect.
"Starbucks will cut up to 6,700 more jobs; Another 300 cafes closing as sales fall" by Reuters | January 29, 2009
LOS ANGELES - Starbucks Corp.'s quarterly profit fell more than expected as sales at established US stores fell 10 percent. Yesterday, the company said it will close 300 more cafes and could slash up to 6,700 jobs....
After cementing its global brand by selling $3 lattes to the masses, the company got into trouble when it built too many US outlets. It has been hit hard by a recession that has wiped out more than 3 million jobs, decimated real estate values and investments, and battered consumer spending and confidence.
Oh, boo-hoo-hoo for Zionist-supporting Starbucks!
"The operating environment is terrible, but they're doing a lot of the right things here - slowing their growth, looking for cost savings. They're preparing themselves for the time in the future where sales come back," said Larry Miller, an analyst with RBC Capital Markets. "There are a lot of stores that haven't been profitable. It's a harsh reality but they need to right-size the organization. Unfortunately, there are some casualties."
Yeah, REAL LIVE PEOPLE with LIVES!!!
Starbucks said 200 of the latest store closings will be in the United States, where it had already closed 600 stores. The other 100 are in international markets. Last year, Starbucks also shut 61 cafes in Australia. The coffee chain, which brought back Howard Schultz as chief executive in January 2008, has repeatedly jolted investors with bad news since its US traffic started slowing in late 2007.
That's why Starbucks is being boycotted: Schultz a supporter of Zionist Israel.
Yesterday, Schultz said Starbucks was able to find new positions for about 70 percent of the workers affected by the closing of the 600 domestic stores. Starbucks said it now expects to open 140 new company-operated stores in the United States in fiscal 2009, 60 fewer than previously targeted. The company plans to open 170 new company stores abroad, down from 270.
WTF? Cutting on one hand, expanding on the other; why do I get the feeling I'm watching a shell game?
The targets for new licensed stores were also lowered, to 125 in the United States and 360 elsewhere. "In the midst of the weakening global consumer environment, Starbucks is following a well-developed plan to strengthen our business through more efficient operations," Schultz said....
Net income for the quarter fell to $64.3 million....
Gee, they are crying poverty and yet they STILL MADE $64 MILLION THIS QUARTER!
At the end of the fourth quarter, there were more than 11,500 US Starbucks stores and more than 5,000 abroad. Analysts held out hope that Starbucks' aggressive cost-cutting efforts will put it back on a growth track, once the economy rebounds.
"Starbucks was full throttle ahead into the recession. They were opening 2,000 stores a year in the US. In 2007 they hit the recession; they couldn't hit the brakes soon enough," said Sharon Zackfia, of William Blair & Co.
"There are stores out there that are in no man's land; there are fields of dreams of unsold homes. This is not surprising. I think it's a very rational thing to do in this environment."
Whack!
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Whack, whack, whack!
"Mass layoffs surge in '08, likely in '09" by Associated Press | January 29, 2009
WASHINGTON - Mass layoffs involving 50 or more workers increased sharply last year, and large job cuts appear to be accelerating in 2009 at a furious pace. Boeing, Pfizer, Home Depot, and other US corporate titans have disclosed tens of thousands of job cuts this week alone.
The economy is likely to continue to shed jobs for the rest of this year, regardless of President Obama's stimulus plan, economists said....
Large corporations continued to hemorrhage jobs yesterday, as Boeing Co. said it would cut 5,500 positions, on top of 4,500 layoffs disclosed earlier this month....
Time Warner Inc.'s AOL division said yesterday it is cutting up to 700 jobs, or about 10 percent of the online unit's work force.
IBM Corp., meanwhile, has cut thousands of jobs in its sales, software, and hardware divisions in the past week....
Meanwhile, my puke state gave them a $5 million dollar tax cut they didn't even want.
Home Depot Inc., Pfizer Inc., and General Motors Corp. also have said they plan to lay off thousands of workers. Companies have disclosed more than 125,000 layoffs in January, according to an Associated Press tally. The financial markets, meanwhile, rose yesterday on news that the government may take additional steps to assist the nation's ailing banks....
Is that a TOTAL DISCONNECT or what? Where is YOUR BAILOUT, workers?
Obama sought to use the mounting employment losses to ramp up support for his $825 billion economic stimulus package, which the House passed yesterday.
You mean, just like Bush used the same tactics for spying, war, lootings, etc?
Nice CHANGE!
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Whack, whack!
"Analogic cutting 128 jobs in Bay State" by Chris Reidy, Globe Staff | January 29, 2009
Analogic Corp. of Peabody said it will reduce its worldwide workforce by 9 percent, or 140 jobs, including 128 in Massachusetts, as part of a plan to cut costs by $9.6 million per year. The 128 Massachusetts jobs represent 12 percent of the company's Massachusetts workforce, a company official wrote in an e-mail.
Analogic, a provider of medical imaging and aviation security technology, cited "global economic conditions" as the reason for the layoffs. The company added it expects to take a restructuring charge of $3.4 million during the second fiscal quarter.
Yeah, those HIGH-TECH BIOTECHS are really saving our asses, huh?
"Boston Scientific loss widens
Boston Scientific Corp.'s fourth-quarter loss widened more than fivefold as the Natick-based company wrote down $2.7 billion associated with the 2006 purchase of Guidant Corp. The company lost $2.43 billion, or $1.62 cents a share, the medical device maker said in a statement.
That expanded the loss of $458 million, or 31 cents a share, that it reported a year ago, citing legal and acquisition costs. Revenue slipped to $2 billion, from $2.15 billion a year ago, as new products failed to stem losses to Xience, Abbott Laboratories' new stent.
How the hell do you lose money when you have $2 BILLION in revenues?
Excluding one-time items, the company reported a profit of 21 cents a share, topping the 13 cent estimate of analysts surveyed by Bloomberg.
Oh, so THEY ARE FINE! They MADE a PROFIT LAST QUARTER -- even as we are told the economy is terrible! Everybody STILL MADE PROFITS, huh?
Boston Scientific bought defibrillator maker Guidant for $27.5 billion in 2006, beating out Johnson & Johnson in a bidding war by taking on $10 billion in debt. Boston Scientific also said it received regulatory approval to market its Taxus Liberte drugcoated stent in Japan. Taxus Liberte is Boston Scientific's second-generation drugeluting stent."
It's a BIOTECH, folks!!!
This next one isn't:
"Cabot profit drops; 500 jobs to be cut
Specialty chemicals maker Cabot Corp. said its fiscal first-quarter profit fell 88 percent versus the prior year amid weaker sales. The Boston company also announced it would slash 500 jobs, or 12 percent of its workforce, as part of a restructuring plan.
For the quarter ended Dec. 31, Cabot reported net income of $4 million, or 6 cents per share. That compares with a profit of $36 million, or 56 cents per share, in the prior-year period. Net sales fell to $652 million from $711 million....
Translation: they still MADE $4 MILLION this LAST QUARTER!!
You know, the HORRIBLE QUARTER for the U.S. economy -- at least for some!
Patrick Prevost, Cabot's president and chief executive, said the company's results were hurt by an unprecedented decline in demand by tire, automotive, and construction companies.
But they still MADE a PROFIT! Did YOU, reader?
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