Ralph Lauren To Cut Global Workforce By End Of Fiscal 2021; Incur Charges

(RTTNews) - Ralph Lauren Corp. (RL) said Tuesday it plans to cut its global workforce by the end of fiscal 2021 as part of a strategic realignment plan.

During its first quarter earnings call on August 4, 2020, the company's management said a strategic review was underway to support future growth and profitability, and to create a sustainable cost structure.

As part of the initiative, Ralph Lauren plans to reduce its global workforce by the end of fiscal 2021, which is expected to result in gross annualized pre-tax expense savings of approximately $180 million to $200 million. The savings realization will primarily begin in the company's Fiscal 2022.

In connection with the workforce reduction, Ralph Lauren expects to incur total estimated pre-tax charges of about $120 million to $160 million.

In addition to the actions announced, the company anticipates additional actions as part of the Fiscal 2021 Strategic Realignment Plan.

As part of a simplified organisation structure, Ralph Lauren said it is consolidating the company's global Marketing and Branding functions, establishing a new Consumer Intelligence and Experience or CIX organization, and reorganizing its Corporate Merchandising teams to combine core brand propositions.

Further, Ralph Lauren said it is transforming how it operates with the implementation of new technology platforms across several key areas of its business. This includes rolling out a cloud-based human resources and planning system globally as well as elevating how it delivers for consumers through its Digitizing the Value Chain project.