Waterford to shed 485 jobs and shut Dungarvan plant

Waterford Crystal is to shed 485 jobs and shut its Dungarvan plant as part of a major restructuring drive by its parent company Waterford Wedgwood.

[restructuring] is vital to ensure the long term prosperity of this historic company and its key heritage plants in Ireland, England and Germany Sir Anthony O'Reilly, chairman Waterford Wedgewood

Waterford Wedgwood confirmed in a statement to the stock exchange this morning that it would shed up to a total of 845 jobs across its wider crystal and ceramics operations.

Some 390 staff will lose their jobs in Dungarvan and another 95 jobs are to go in the flagship factory at Kilbarry in Waterford city.

It also planned a further 950 jobs in the Wedgwood and Royal Doulton division will go, giving a total loss of 1,800 jobs across the Waterford Wedgwood group. About 450 of the 950 have already left the business.

In return for the cost savings, Waterford Wedgwood chairman Sir Anthony O'Reilly has agreed to underwrite a €90 million share issue, which will be used to cover the cost of restructuring.

Speculation has been rife for months that the plant, which been producing the world-famous crystal for over 30 years, was to shut.

Employees and union leaders at the Dungarvan plant confirmed specially convened talks have been arranged with management to discuss the company's plans. The ATGWU said its members reacted with "huge anger and resentment" at a meeting in Dungarvan this morning.

Local TDs, including Minister for Transport Martin Cullen, Fine Gael's John Deasy and Labour's Brian O'Shea, have called on Minister for Enterprise Micheal Martin to work to secure alternative employment for the redundant workers.

Today's move follows a three-year decline in Waterford Crystal's, which has been blamed on a weakening US market, increased competition from Asian producers and a strong euro. In June 2004, Waterford Crystal revealed profits had fallen by 89 per cent to €3.1 million for the first six months to the end of March.

Redmond O'Donoghue, Group chief executive, said the "difficult decision" to close the Dungarvan plant "is necessary to ensure the prosperity of the Group and the future of crystal manufacture in Waterford."

Sir Anthony said he regretted the job losses but the restructuring was "vital to ensure the long term prosperity of this historic company and its key heritage plants in Ireland, England and Germany".

In a statement, Waterford Wedgewood said the €90 million restructuring programme will achieve savings of around €90 million annually once fully implemented by the end of next year.

About €30 million will be spent on restructuring at Waterford Crystal and Rosenthal in order to remove excess capacity.

Mr O'Donoghue added a series of strategies would be put in place to safeguard the future of the firm, including investing around €6 million in the existing crystal plant in Waterford. Sales have been projected to stay at current levels but new products will be introduced alongside marketing programmes, including a national advertising campaign for Waterford Crystal in the US, in a bid to grow business.

The company said it was issuing 1.7 billion new shares in a fully-underwritten rights issue at €0.06 apiece. It raised €100 million via a rights issue announced at the end of last year to pay for its purchase of Britain's Royal Doulton.

The group issued a profit warning in October ahead of first-half results that showed the company scraped back into profit but only thanks to the sale of its cookware business.