PPG Industries announced that it is considering a number of “restructuring actions,” including facility and job consolidations in the company’s coatings operations.

PITTSBURGH — PPG Industries Inc. announced that it is considering a number of “restructuring actions,” including facility and job consolidations in the company’s coatings operations, in response to increased manufacturing costs and slowdowns in key end-use markets.

The company did not announce specific moves that might be made, but any initiatives will be aimed at “reducing costs, increasing efficiencies and accelerating performance improvement throughout the company,” said Chairman and CEO Raymond W. LeBoeuf. The company estimated that the actions could result in a charge of $50 million to $100 million in the first quarter of 2001.

LeBoeuf said PPG has been reviewing all operations worldwide since late summer, due to “weakening economic conditions that emerged in late summer and are not abating.” He said the company anticipates “continued declines in a number of our end markets, particularly vehicle production, while natural-gas prices continue to rise.” The company’s actions “will involve facility and job consolidations, primarily in the coatings segment,” he said, adding that the financial benefits of the moves are expected to fully offset the charges in about a year. LeBoeuf also said the company is anticipating fourth-quarter earnings of 65–75¢ per share, compared to 93¢ per share in the fourth quarter of 1999.