A. Schulman Consolidates North American Production Facilities - Quick Facts

(RTTNews) - Resin maker A. Schulman, Inc. (SHLM) said it is consolidating its North American production facilities. The firm, according to its ongoing review of its manufacturing footprint, would shut down its plant in Stryker, Ohio, in April 2015 and shift the plant's production to other facilities in North America.

The Stryker plant has been producing products mainly for U.S. and Mexican markets, employing around 70 people and was part of A. Schulman's acquisition of the Ferro Specialty Plastics Business, which was completed in July 2014.

Further, the company reported making SG&A reductions in North America as part of its ongoing effort to drive further synergies from recent acquisitions and eliminate duplicate functions. As a consequence, the firm expects headcount reductions at various locations to total nearly 10 people.

The majority of the costs related to the manufacturing consolidation, approximately $2.5 million, are expected to be included in the company's financial results for the fiscal 2015 first quarter. The annualized savings, approximately $3 million, would be realized in the second half of fiscal 2015. A part of these savings were part of the earlier stated $5.5 million in net synergies related to the acquisition of Ferro's Specialty Plastics unit.

The majority of the SG&A efficiency costs, about $500,000, are believed to occur in the first quarter of fiscal 2015, whilst the annualized savings, approximately $1 million, would start to be realized in the company's second quarter of fiscal 2015.