Briggs and Stratton Corp.’s recent decision to merge two of its business units has led to job cuts in the company’s management ranks.
The Wauwatosa-based manufacturer of small engines and outdoor power equipment is merging its Home Power and Yard Power groups into a single unit, company spokeswoman Laura Timm said.
“We made some staffing changes to streamline the group’s functions as part of this strategic move,” she said. “This included eliminating a limited number of management positions.”
Timm declined to reveal the exact number of jobs that were cut or the names of the executives whose positions were eliminated, citing privacy issues.
Briggs and Stratton’s Home Power Group included generators and pressure washers, while the Yard Power Group had been made up of the Simplicity, Snapper and Ferris brands of products and assets that the company bought from Murray Inc.
The consolidated Products Group will be led by Harold Redman Sr., a senior vice president at Briggs and Stratton who had been president of the Home Power Products Group. Vincent Shiely had served as president of the Yard Power Products Group. The company wouldn’t comment on whether Shiely was one of the executives who lost their jobs.
“We are confident that this new structure creates a solid business model that will allow our team to better serve our customers and consumers with products, programs and services,” Timm said.
News of the reorganization came shortly after Briggs and Stratton reported a fiscal first-quarter loss of $8.1 million, or 16 cents per share, as consumer spending remained weak.
The performance, which exceeded analysts’ expectations, represented a slight improvement from the same period last year, when the company reported a net loss of $8.7 million.
Sales for the three-month period rose 2.9 percent to $334.1 million.
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