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LENNOX LAYS OFF 66

By Amy Riggin/OF THE COMMERCIAL STAFF
Friday, April 3, 2009 11:57 PM CDT

A spokesman for Lennox Industries’ Stuttgart facility confirmed Friday that 66 employees were laid off Thursday, bringing the number of laid-off workers there since February to 322.

Spokesman Ozzie Buckler said 60 hourly and six salaried employees were affected in facility’s latest workforce reduction.

Six of those workers are Pine Bluff residents and one lives in White Hall, he said.

“It’s obviously because of current market conditions,” Buckler said in a phone interview, adding, “We’re not currently planning additional reductions but we continue to look for ways to control costs in the business climate we’re in.”

Buckler declined to comment on whether severance packages were offered to any of the employees, or what positions the laid-off workers held.

He did say, however, that “recall is always a possibility for up to a year.”

Employees will be provided COBRA information for benefits and arrangements through unemployment compensation for unemployment benefits, Buckler said, adding that employees also will receive information about jobs from the Arkansas Economic Development Commission.

Prior to the 256-employee layoff in February, Lennox Stuttgart employed 946 hourly employees and 139 salaried. Including the latest round of layoffs, those figures have decreased to 644 hourly and 119 salaried. Its former, 1,000-plus work force has declined by 30 percent.

Buckler said “a little over 10 percent” of the workers laid off in February lived in Pine Bluff.

The Stuttgart plant is part of Lennox’s Commercial Heating & Cooling division, which manufactures and sells heating and cooling equipment used in low-rise commercial buildings such as shopping centers, offices, schools and restaurants, Buckler said. The typically packaged rooftop units range from two to 50 tons capacity.

In 2007, 250,000 square feet was added to the existing 500,000-square-foot plant, Buckler said.

Harry Bizios, president and COO of Lennox International Commercial Heating & Cooling, said after the February layoffs that “our Stuttgart operations are essential to our future, as seen in the recent plant expansion.”

Lennox Industries is a subsidiary of Lennox International Inc. (NYSE: LII) of Richardson, Texas.

Lennox International reported fourth-quarter 2008 revenue of $746 million, down 15 percent from the prior year. Revenue for the full year was $3.5 billion, down 7 percent.

In its Commercial Heating & Cooling division, fourth-quarter revenue was down 16 percent to $189 million. Its segment profit was down 17 percent to $20 million and its segment profit margin was down 30 basis points to 10.6 percent.

Shares of Lennox International closed at $28.50 Friday, up 0.39 percent.

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