DuPont to Cut 1500 Jobs

Job cuts at Dow seem to have tapered off for now, though the seemingly-endless re-org process is on-going. DuPont announced plans to slash 1500 more jobs. From an AP article by Randall Chase on abcnews.com:

Chemicals maker DuPont Co. said Wednesday it plans to cut 1,500 jobs and close four facilities in Europe in a restructuring of its performance coatings business and raised its overall earnings outlook. DuPont officials said the restructuring, which will take about 18 months to complete, will reduce annual costs by about $165 million. The Wilmington-based company anticipates taking a pretax charge up to $165 million in the first quarter, with additional costs of up to $55 million over the next year. In a separate announcement, the company raised its first-quarter profit guidance to 80 cents per share, up from a January estimate of 70 cents per share. For 2006, DuPont revised its earnings estimate to $2.70 a share, up 10 cents from its earlier projection.