Spanish bakery-goods firm Panrico, maker of the renowned “Donuts” doughnut brand, is to shut its Madrid Villaverde factory, and dismiss 60 workers, as part of a restructuring drive to boost profits by 2011.
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The company will offer job transfers and early retirement to the workers and is currently meeting trade union representatives to strike a final deal, a company spokeswoman told just-food.
The move is part of a global divestment programme led by Panrico’s new owner investment firm Apax Partners.
Apax has been slimming Panrico down by selling factories in China and most recently in Greece as part of an initiative to double Panrico’s net sales to EUR1bn by 2011.
The investment group also wants to deliver an Earnings Before Interest, Tax, Depresiation and Amortisation(EBITDA) target of EUR200m, up from EUR83m in 2005.
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By GlobalDataUnder the streamlining scheme, Panrico plans to sell its Barcelona headquarters building to generate cash in coming months, the spokeswoman said, adding that “it’s too big” for our needs.
She said that Panrico intends to focus its future business in Spain and Portugal where it will now operate 13 factories. The spokeswoman said that the Villaverde factory, which has been sold to General Electric for EUR14.6m, accounts for a mere 0.5% of Panrico’s production.
In a statement outlining its financial targets, Panrico said it hopes to achieve the operational improvements by stepping up research and development expenditures, cutting logistic and infrastructure costs and launching new products – particularly in the sandwiches and frozen-foods market. The firm also hopes to tap new export markets.
