A robotic arm sprays red paint onto an automobile body at PPG Industries Inc.’s automotive coating’s technical center in Ingersheim, Germany.
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PPG Industries will lay off 1,800 employees in the U.S. and Europe and close various facilities as part of a cost-reduction program, the paints and coatings maker said on Thursday.
Shares of the Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania-based company were up 1.3% before the bell.
PPG said the program was focused on reducing structural costs primarily in Europe and in certain other global businesses, along with other corporate costs after recent agreements to sell two of its businesses.
The company also said on Thursday it would sell its architectural coatings business in the U.S. and Canada to buyout firm American Industrial Partners for about $550 million.
PPG’s architectural coatings business houses brands such as Dulux, Glidden, Olympic and Liquid Nails. It expects the deal to close in late 2024 or early 2025.
In August, the company had said it would sell its silica products business to Polish chemical company Qemetica for $310 million. The sale is expected to close in the last quarter of 2024.
“(Decision to cut jobs) are necessary to adjust our fixed cost base and to right-size our company following these two business divestitures,” CEO Tim Knavish said in a statement.
Both the deals followed strategic reviews announced earlier this year.
PPG expects annualized pre-tax savings of about $175 million, including $60 million in 2025, once the cost-cut program is fully implemented.
The company said it would record a pre-tax charge of $250 million in the fourth quarter of 2024.
Separately, PPG missed Wall Street estimates for third-quarter profit on Wednesday, hurt by lower sales at its industrial coatings unit.
