PPG Announces Glass Business Realignment; Third-Quarter Results Affected Negatively

With demand declining for automotive and residential window glass, Pittsburgh-based PPG Industries has announced it is realigning its performance glazings business. The company will cease production at its Owen Sound, Ontario, Canada, glass manufacturing facility in the first quarter 2009, and idle one float glass line at its Mt. Zion, Ill., glass plant in the second quarter of next year.

"This realignment will enable us to adapt to the changing demands of the industry," says Mark Orcutt, PPG vice president, performance glazings. More specifically, Orcutt cites demand for specialized glass for the emerging solar market and energy-efficient glass to satisfy evolving building codes fueled by the green building movement, which is driving the commercial construction market.

In addition, PPG announced that its third-quarter 2008 financial results will be affected negatively by several non-recurring items, including impacts from weather-related events, and by further deterioration in the automotive original equipment manufacture market. The company said these items will likely affect its third-quarter after-tax earnings negatively by between $35 million and $40 million, or 20 cents and 25 cents per share.