BELDING HEMINWAY COMPANY, INC. ANNOUNCES INITIATIVES TO DISPOSE OF HOME FURNISHINGS DIVISION AND RESTRUCTURE THREAD DIVISION; To Record One-Time Fourth Quarter Charges.NEW YORK--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Dec. 15, 1995--Belding Heminway Company, Inc. (NYSE NYSE See: New York Stock Exchange :BHY BHY Bulk Hydrogen BHY Beihai, PR China (airport code) ) today announced its decision to divest its Home Furnishings division. The Company said this action would enable it to devote greater resources to its Thread and Button divisions. At the same time, the Company also announced that it will initiate a number of programs to improve the efficiency and productivity of its Thread division. Belding Heminway has retained Bowles, Hollowell Connor & Co., Charlotte, North Carolina “Charlotte” redirects here. For other uses, see Charlotte (disambiguation). Charlotte is the largest city in the state of North Carolina and the 20th largest city in the United States. to assist with the sale of the Home Furnishings division, which manufactures medium-priced specialty fabrics. The Company will account for Home Furnishings as a discontinued operation discontinued operation A segment of a business that has been abandoned or sold or for which plans for one or another of these actions have been approved. See also continuing operations. , effective with the fourth quarter ending December 31, 1995. The Company expects to record a loss, primarily non-cash and including goodwill, for the disposal of the Home Furnishings division of approximately $18 million, or $2.40 per share, net of income tax benefits, in the fourth quarter of 1995. The Company also expects to record an after-tax restructuring charge restructuring charge The expense of reorganizing a company's operations. A restructuring charge is an infrequent expense that generally results from asset writedowns or facility closings. related to its Thread division of approximately $22 million, or $3.00 per share, in the fourth quarter of 1995. The charge primarily represents a write-off of goodwill with the balance reflecting the costs associated with productivity improvements at the Thread division. For the nine months ended September 30, 1995, the Company's Thread and Button divisions had sales of approximately $71 million, and the Home Furnishings division had sales of approximately $24 million. Gregory Cheskin, President and Chief Executive Officer, said, "During the sale process, Belding Heminway is fully committed (Law) committed to prison for trial, in distinction from being detained for examination. See also: Fully to maintaining the value of the Home Furnishings business by continuing to serve the needs of our customers with our historically high levels of quality and service. "The decision to focus exclusively on our Thread and Button businesses will allow us to dedicate our financial and management resources to the markets that offer the greatest potential for future growth. We believe that the opportunities in this area can be realized if we are committed to making the necessary investment in more efficient, productive operations and enhanced customer service. The improvements we are making currently are expected to benefit the Thread division's future profitability. "These actions are consistent with the goals of improving the Company's performance and long term prospects. They represent the latest initiatives taken since current management joined Belding Heminway in 1993, which have also included reducing corporate overhead, installing a new MIS system, consolidating facilities, and strengthening our Thread division through two acquisitions," Mr. Cheskin stated. The Company noted that the sale of the Home Furnishings division will require the consent of the Company's lenders. In addition, the continuing difficult operating environment In computing, an operating environment is the environment in which users run programs, whether in a command line interface, such as in MS-DOS or the Unix shell, or in a graphical user interface, such as in the Macintosh operating system. which will negatively impact fourth quarter results, coupled with these planned actions will put the Company in violation of certain covenants under its credit agreement at December 31, 1995 and future periods, and therefore will require the Company to amend its credit agreement at December 31, 1995 and future periods. The Company is currently in discussion with the banks and anticipates an agreement will be reached, however no assurance can be given that an agreement will be reached with the banks regarding the December 31 covenants or covenants for future periods. Belding Heminway manufactures and markets industrial threads and consumer sewing and crafts products, principally buttons. The Company's Thread and Button divisions provide products used in automotive, luggage, furniture, cable, sewing/crafts and other consumer products applications. Belding Heminway became a public company on February 28, 1994, through its distribution to the common stock shareholders of Noel Group, Inc. (Nasdaq:NOEL), which retains 76.2% voting control of the Company. In addition to its headquarters in New York City New York City: see New York, city. New York City City (pop., 2000: 8,008,278), southeastern New York, at the mouth of the Hudson River. The largest city in the U.S. , Belding Heminway has manufacturing or distribution facilities in Lansing, Iowa Lansing is a city in Allamakee County, Iowa, United States. The population was 1,012 at the 2000 census. Geography Lansing is located at (43.361525, -91.223378)GR1. , Hendersonville, North Carolina For the city in Vance County, North Carolina, see Henderson, North Carolina. Hendersonville is a city in Henderson County, North Carolina, USA, 22 miles (35 km) southeast of Asheville. , Watertown and Winsted, Connecticut, Emporia, Virginia, West New York West New York, town (1990 pop. 38,125), Hudson co., NE N.J., atop the Palisades across the Hudson River from New York City; settled 1790, inc. 1898. It is a residential town with some light industry. West New York is also a leading U.S. embroidery center. , N.J. and Bronx, New York New York, state, United States New York, Middle Atlantic state of the United States. It is bordered by Vermont, Massachusetts, Connecticut, and the Atlantic Ocean (E), New Jersey and Pennsylvania (S), Lakes Erie and Ontario and the Canadian province of . CONTACT: BELDING HEMINWAY COMPANY, INC. Gary Silverman Vice President, Human Resources (212) 556-4700 -or- Morgen-Walke Associates June Filingeri, Robert Weiner Media Contact: Stacy Berns (212) 850-5600 |
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