HIGHLAND HEIGHTS, Ky.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--June 15, 2005--General
Cable Corporation (NYSE:BGC) announced today that it is closing one of
its three North American plants that manufacture copper telephone
exchange cables. The plant, located in Bonham, Texas has approximately
170 active associates and utilizes more than 360,000 square feet in
the production of copper telephone exchange cable. The Company also
announced its decision to close its fiber optic military and premise
cable manufacturing plant in Dayville, Connecticut, and to relocate
production from this plant to its recently acquired facility in
Franklin, Massachusetts, which today produces copper as well as some
fiber optic communications products. The Dayville plant employs
approximately 30 associates. The total cost of these closures should
approximate $30 million, of which about $13 million will be cash
costs. Approximately $4.0 million of these charges, none of which will
be cash costs, will be recognized in the second quarter of 2005.
"As a result of the significant reduction in demand for copper
telephone exchange cable over the last several years, our Bonham
facility has been operating at below 50% of its capacity," commented
Gregory B. Kenny, Chief Executive Officer of General Cable. "In light
of our belief that there will not be a significant rebound in demand
for copper telephone exchange cables, we have made the decision to
streamline our manufacturing operations and close the plant. The
Company, in its remaining communications facilities which make a wide
range of products for multiple applications, will retain more than
enough capacity to meet projected customer demand for exchange
cables."
"Our Dayville, Connecticut facility, which primarily manufactures
fiber optic military and premise cables, has also been operating at
less then 50% of its capacity. We will optimize our fiber optic cable
manufacturing operations by moving this productive capacity to a
larger and more broad based General Cable facility," added Kenny.
"The decision to close these facilities was based strictly on our
need to further optimize the utilization of our available
manufacturing capacity in a market for communications cables that has
experienced a significant decline in demand over the last four or five
years. These actions allow us to redeploy certain fixed assets
elsewhere in the global General Cable system and reduce working
capital, which will further improve our return on capital employed,"
added Kenny. "Our associates in Bonham and Dayville have worked hard
to improve manufacturing efficiencies and reduce costs over the past
several years and I would like to thank them for their efforts and
dedication to General Cable."
General Cable (NYSE:BGC), headquartered in Highland Heights,
Kentucky, is a leader in the development, design, manufacture,
marketing and distribution of copper, aluminum and fiber optic wire
and cable products for the energy, industrial, specialty and
communications markets. Visit our website at www.GeneralCable.com.
Certain statements in this press release, including without
limitation, statements regarding future financial results and
performance, plans and objectives, capital expenditures and the
Company's or management's beliefs, expectations or opinions, are
forward-looking statements. Actual results may differ materially from
those statements as a result of factors, risks and uncertainties over
which the Company has no control. Such factors include economic and
political consequences resulting from the September 2001 terrorist
attack and the war with Iraq, domestic and local country price
competition, particularly in certain segments of the power cable
market and other competitive pressures; general economic conditions,
particularly in construction; changes in customer or distributor
purchasing patterns in our business segments; the Company's ability to
increase manufacturing capacity and productivity; the financial impact
of any future plant closures; the Company's ability to successfully
complete and integrate acquisitions and divestitures; the Company's
ability to negotiate extensions of labor agreements on acceptable
terms; the Company's ability to service debt requirements and maintain
adequate domestic and international credit facilities and credit
lines; the Company's ability to pay dividends on its preferred stock;
the impact of unexpected future judgments or settlements of claims and
litigation; the Company's ability to achieve target returns on
investments in its defined benefit plans; the Company's ability to
avoid limitations on utilization of net losses for income tax
purposes; the cost of raw materials, including copper and aluminum;
the Company's ability to increase its selling prices during periods of
increasing raw material costs; the impact of foreign currency
fluctuations; the impact of technological changes; and other factors
which are discussed in the Company's Report on Form 10-K filed with
the Securities and Exchange Commission on March 30, 2005, as well as
periodic reports filed with the Commission
CONTACT: General Cable Corporation
Paul M. Montgomery (Investor Relations), 859-572-8684
SOURCE: General Cable Corporation
