Kodak will cut up to 4,500 jobs during 2009, approximately 18 per cent of its total workforce following a $137m loss in the fourth quarter last year. The company reports that these reductions, which include executive positions, have commenced and the majority of the redundancies will take place in the first half of 2009.
For the full-year 2008 kodak's Graphic Communications Group reported full-year sales of $3.33bn, a two per cent decline from 2007. Sales for the fourth quarter were $821m, a 14 per cent decrease from $953m in the year-ago quarter. The company says the earnings decline was primarily driven by lower volume and price/mix across several product lines, along with a negative impact from foreign exchange, partially offset by reductions in selling, general and administrative cost.As a whole, Kodak reported preliminary earnings from continuing operations of $54m. Full-year revenue totalled $9.416bn, a nine per cent decline from 2007. Full-year digital revenue totalled $6.422bn, a four per cent decline from 2007, and traditional revenue totalled $2.987bn, an 18 per cent decline.
Antonio Perez, CEO of Kodak says, “The second half of 2008 will go down in history as one of the most challenging periods we have seen in decades. During the last three months of the year, we experienced dramatic declines in several of our key businesses due to the slowdown in consumer spending and significantly reduced demand for capital equipment.”
He continues, “Despite these challenging conditions, we held or improved our market position in key businesses, maintained a solid balance sheet, and continued to invest differentiated products. We are taking the necessary steps to address this environment and to position Kodak to recapture the momentum when the recovery occurs.”
