J&J To Cut 4% To 6% Of Medical Devices Workforce; Sees Charges Of Up To $2.4 Bln

(RTTNews) - Healthcare and consumer products giant Johnson & Johnson (JNJ) said it is restructuring its Medical Devices businesses to better serve the needs of customers and patients in today's evolving healthcare marketplace.

The company estimates that the actions to result in position eliminations of about 4 percent to 6 percent of the Medical Devices segment's global workforce over the next two years, subject to any consultation procedures in countries where required.

However, the company's Consumer Medical Devices businesses, Vision Care and Diabetes Care, are not impacted by these actions.

Johnson & Johnson expects the actions to result in annualized pre-tax cost savings of $800 million to $1.0 billion, with the majority of it expected to be realized by the end of 2018. This includes savings of about $200 million in 2016.

In connection with its plans, the company expects to record pre-tax restructuring charges of about $2.0 billion to $2.4 billion, which will be treated as special items. Of this, about $600 million will be recorded in the fourth quarter of 2015.

The company affirmed its full-year 2015 guidance it provided on October 13, 2015 for sales of $70.0 billion to $71.0 billion and adjusted earnings of $6.15 to $6.20 per share, which excludes special items such as restructuring charges.