Leggett & Platt to reduce workforce in restructuring plan

Leggett & Platt Inc. (NYSE: LEG) is expecting millions of dollars in costs from a restructuring plan that involves layoffs.

The Carthage-based manufacturer of engineered components and products for homes, offices and vehicles made the announcement last week in a news release and filing with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission.

The filing does not indicate how many jobs will be cut, and Leggett & Platt officials could not be reached for comment by deadline. The Dispatch, a media outlet covering Davidson County, North Carolina, reported the company plans to lay off 172 employees in Linwood, North Carolina, where it operates fashion bed manufacturing.

The SEC filing indicates that through the restructuring plan, Leggett & Platt intends to “reduce workforce levels and narrow product offerings” in its fashion bed business, which includes ornamental beds and bed frames. In its home furniture business, which includes components for the upholstered furniture industry, the company plans to “downsize or consolidate certain facilities and reduce workforce levels.”

"The fashion bed and home furniture businesses have underperformed expectations in recent quarters, primarily from weaker demand and higher raw material costs,” Leggett & Platt President and CEO Karl Glassman said in the release. “An in-depth analysis of these businesses was conducted, and we are exiting low-margin business, reducing operating costs and eliminating excess capacity. These actions should enable improved operating performance in these businesses starting in 2019."

Through the end of 2019, the company expects to incur costs of $33 million related to the restructuring plan. Of that, employee termination costs are projected at $8 million, according to the SEC filing.

The company is slated to release its fourth-quarter earnings results after the market closes on Feb. 4, according to the release.

LEG shares were trading at $36.19 as of 10:10 a.m., compared with a 52-week range of $34.07 to $49.88.