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Technology Stocks : Corning Incorporated (GLW) -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Sidney Street who wrote (1732)	6/4/2002 4:09:36 PM
From: Proud_Infidel	Respond to of 2260

Corning Begins Implementation of Global Cost-Reduction Efforts CORNING, N.Y.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--June 4, 2002--Corning Incorporated (NYSE:GLW - News): As Announced in April, Company Expects to Reduce Approximately 4,000 Positions as Part of Strategy to Return to Profitability in 2003 Corning Incorporated (NYSE:GLW - News) has begun implementing a major portion of the restructuring plans it announced in April with a series of workforce reductions across its telecommunications segment and in several research and development facilities. By the end of this week, the company will have eliminated approximately 1,500 jobs and offered early retirement packages to some 600 employees. In April, Corning announced that, as a result of continuous declines in capital spending by telecommunications carriers, the company would reduce its global headcount by about 4,000 positions and take further restructuring actions, including consolidation of organizational structures; plant closures; elimination of some research and development facilities; technical spending cuts; and the possibility of centralizing some administrative functions. Today, Corning began notifying employees at the Sullivan Park research facility and in the optical fiber and photonic technologies businesses that about 600 positions in Corning, N.Y. are being eliminated due to the dramatic downturn in the telecommunications industry over the past year. In late May, the company notified Corning Cable Systems employees in its Rio Grande, Puerto Rico plant that the facility will close by the end of the first quarter next year, affecting 450 positions. Corning has proposed eliminating 250 positions at its Corning Frequency Controls operations in the U.S., Germany, Canada and China. An additional 200 positions will be eliminated across the company's Photonic Technologies business, inclusive of the closing of Corning's Albuquerque Development Center and the Photonics Research and Technology Center in Somerset, N.J., as part of its plan to consolidate research efforts. The company also announced that it has sold its Appliance Controls Group, a part of Corning's controls and connectors business, to Jacobson Partners of New York for an undisclosed sum. Future reductions will also take place in corporate staff groups, other support organizations and the telecommunications segment throughout the second and third quarters as decisions are finalized, company officials said. Corning will provide details on cost reduction estimates associated with these restructuring actions in its second-quarter financial report in late July. Previously, the company said that it expected to take total restructuring and impairment charges in the range of $600 million pretax spread over the second and third quarters of 2002 as a result of these and other restructuring actions. While acknowledging that the cutbacks are difficult and painful, company officials said the actions are necessary to reduce costs, to protect the financial health of the company and to ultimately return to profitability in 2003. "Despite today's difficult environment, Corning remains committed to its strategy of focusing on high-technology businesses. We believe that the demand for bandwidth will eventually fuel a renewed demand for our optical products and when the industry begins to recover, customers will turn to Corning as the low-cost leader. In the meantime, we are focused on achieving long-term cost savings through an aggressive restructuring program which we are now implementing," James B. Flaws, vice chairman and chief financial officer, said. James R. Houghton, chairman and chief executive officer, said that Corning expects to further consolidate its research efforts over the coming months, "But we are being careful to preserve the core of our R&D capability and talent. Innovation has always been the hallmark of our success, and it will continue to be so in the future." He added that while the company has reduced some staff and closed some research facilities, "We are continuing to invest more than 8 percent of our revenues in research and development projects. We will focus on creating and delivering technologies that can positively impact our near-term revenue performance." Established in 1851, Corning Incorporated (www.corning.com) creates leading-edge technologies for the fastest-growing markets of the world's economy. Corning manufactures optical fiber, cable and photonic products for the telecommunications industry; and high-performance displays and components for television, information technology and other communications-related industries. The company also uses advanced materials to manufacture products for scientific, semiconductor and environmental markets. Corning revenues for 2001 were $6.3 billion. Forward-Looking and Cautionary Statements This press release contains forward-looking statements that involve a variety of business risks and other uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially. These risks and uncertainties include the possibility of changes or fluctuations in global economic conditions; currency exchange rates; product demand and industry capacity; competitive products and pricing; availability and costs of critical components and materials; new product development and commercialization; order activity and demand from major customers; capital spending by larger customers in the telecommunications industry and other business segments; the mix of sales between premium and non-premium products; possible disruption in commercial activities due to terrorist activity and armed conflict; ability to obtain financing and capital on commercially reasonable terms; acquisition and divestiture activities; the level of excess or obsolete inventory; the ability to enforce patents; product and components performance issues; and litigation. These and other risk factors are identified in Corning's filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission. Forward-looking statements speak only as of the day that they are made, and Corning undertakes no obligation to update them in light of new information or future events.

To: Sidney Street who wrote (1732)	6/5/2002 3:18:54 PM
From: Proud_Infidel	Respond to of 2260

S&P comments on Corning Inc (Press release provided by Standard & Poor's) NEW YORK, June 5 - Standard & Poor's said today that Corning Inc.'s (NYSE:GLW - News; BBB-/Negative/A-3) statement that it is beginning implementation of the global cost-reduction efforts has no effect on the company's credit rating or outlook. The restructuring actions (announced in April) include organizational consolidations; plant closures; elimination of some research and development facilities; and technical spending cuts as part of a strategy to return to profitability in 2003. A charge in the area of $600 million pretax, spread over the second and third quarters of 2002, will result from these and other restructuring measures. Corning's main challenge in returning to profitability is the decline in capital spending by its telecommunications carrier customers. Should the prospects for a 2003 telecommunications recovery decrease during 2002, or should the company's liquidity be diminished by worse-than-expected operating performance, the ratings would be lowered.