LEXMARK:RISE OF WORLDWIDE WORKERS

[Anonymous]

Lexmark reports rise in number of workers worldwide
Lexmark International’s 2006 annual report is out and contains several interesting tidbits of information about Lexington’s largest private employer.First, the company’s employment base grew from 13,600 worldwide at the end of 2005 to about 14,900 at the end of 2006, according to the filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.The increases, primarily in manufacturing and production operations, offset actions in last year’s restructuring plan to eliminate or transfer to lower-wage countries more than 1,400 jobs. The plan affected about 200 employees at its headquarters in Lexington.The proportion of the company’s domestic employment fell from about 30.9 percent in 2005 to 26.2 percent in 2006.Also in the report, the company wrote it plans to sell its facility in Rosyth, Scotland, sometime in the first quarter of this year.That facility was closed as part of the restructuring.

In other Lexmark news:
• Executive Vice President Paul Rooke, who heads the company’s laser printer business, fielded quite a few questions at a recent investor conference about the company’s inkjet business, which has struggled in recent quarters. (Najib Bahous, who heads Lexmark’s inkjet business, was not at the conference.)Speaking at the Goldman Sachs 2007 Technology Investment Symposium, Rooke was asked about the potential effect on the company from Kodak’s entrance into the inkjet market and how the company responds to questions from some observers about whether it should exit the inkjet business.Specifically, a person in attendance asked whether Kodak’s planned model of offering higher-priced printers compared with its competition but lower-cost supplies would catch on with consumers.”Time will tell whether that’s what the customer wants,” Rooke said. “We’ve been in this market a long time … and what we continue to hear from our customers is they want better value hardware over lower-cost supplies.”Now if that changes, obviously Lexmark and others can easily change that model.”But Rooke did not show flexibility on the question about whether Lexmark should exit inkjet.”Everything we’re about is about improving our inkjet business,” he said. “That’s why (our) investments in expanding products, expanding customers, building the brand are focused on doing just that.”
• The company’s latest color laser printer lines, which were researched and developed in Lexington, have received industry acclaim recently.
The C530, C770, C772 and C920 series all received Editor’s Choice awards from Better Buys for Business, according to a statement by Lexmark.
The C770 series also received a four-star rating from PC Magazine.
The recognition “really is a particularly strong story for us to be able to talk with customers about,” said company spokesman Tim Fitzpatrick.The color laser product segment has been one of several focused on by the company recently, as it seeks to align its product portfolio with high-growth product and market segments.

[Author]

March 12, 2007 at 10:13 AM