In a brief filing with the SEC, Google Inc. (NASDAQ: GOOG) said that costs associated with a previously announced staff reduction at newly acquired Motorola Mobility would be 9% higher than originally planned. The company said in August that it would cut about 20% of Motorola’s employees, or about 4,000 of Motorola’s 20,000 worldwide workers.
In today’s filing the company said that the company “now expects to broaden those actions to include additional geographic regions outside the U.S.” The company also said it expects to incur severance charges of about $300 million in the third fiscal quarter, of which $250 million will be paid in cash. An additional $40 million in cash charges will be recognized in the third quarter to pay for “facility and market exits.”
The final nail:
Motorola continues to evaluate its plans and further restructuring actions may occur, which may cause Google to incur additional restructuring charges, some of which may be significant.
In August Google said it would reduce the number of Motorola smartphones the company produces and drastically cut staff in Asia and India. Today’s announcement indicates that further cuts in other parts of the world are likely. Western Europe would be a good bet although the announcement does not specify where additional cuts may be made.
Google’s shares are up 0.4% in premarket trading this morning at $765.60 in a 52-week range of $480.77 to $765.99. A new 52-week high is not out of the picture for today.
Paul Ausick
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