Printer manufacturer Lexmark is closing its printer
cartridge factory in Scotland with the loss of 700 hundred
jobs.
The Rosyth plant closure is a major part of a restructuring
programme by the company, designed to eventually save it $80m
(£47m) a year in costs.
Much of the production of the cartridges will now take place in
“lower cost” countries, said Lexmark.
The Scottish job losses make up the majority of Lexmark’s
redundancy and jobs transfer plan, which affects 1,350 jobs around
the world. A total of 825 jobs are disappearing altogether, and 525
being transferred to lower cost countries.
Lexmark says it will save $50m from the changes this year,
although it will spend $130m making the changes, which include
freezing its existing pension scheme.
The jobs cuts came as Lexmark announced that its fourth quarter
sales dropped 12% to $1.37bn (£805m). Profits also slipped.
Lexmark said it had suffered from lower printer hardware sales
and lower sales in print cartridges.