Mike Blahnik
Star Tribune
Wednesday, August 15, 2001
Innovex Inc., a Maple Plain-based company that designs and manufactures flexible circuits, said Tuesday that it will eliminate 100 jobs in Minnesota and 250
worldwide in its effort to achieve profitability.
The cuts are across all areas and most are effective immediately, said Tom Paulson, Innovex's chief financial officer. A majority of the Minnesota cuts will come
from the company's Litchfield manufacturing plant and the rest from its Maple Plain manufacturing and headquarters units, Paulson said. After the cuts, Innovex
will have about 450 workers in Minnesota.
The company will cut 142 jobs in Thailand and a few in Chandler, Ariz.
"We've been unprofitable, and our revenue expectations are modest growth over the next three quarters, and we also are committed to becoming profitable," Paulson
said. "... To ensure profitability we needed to make some cuts."
Innovex last month reported an operating loss of $3.2 million for its fiscal third quarter ended June 30, on revenue of $36.3 million. For the first nine months of its
fiscal year, the company reported an operating loss of $6.4 million.
The company said the current job cuts will result in $4 million in annual pretax savings, and that it expects to become profitable in the month of September and for
the quarter ending in December.
Earlier this year, Innovex cut 260 jobs in Arizona and added 120 in Minnesota with the closing of its Chandler production plant. It took a restructuring charge of
$20.4 million in its fiscal second quarter ended March 31 for the consolidation, and the current cuts will be covered by that charge.
Innovex shares, which have fallen nearly 50 percent this year, closed Tuesday at $3.52, up 2 cents. The job cuts were announced after the market closed.
-- Mike Blahnik is at
mblahnik@startribune.com .
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