HCC Faces Pretax Charge Because of Restructuring

HCC Industries has announced a restructuring of its Hermetite unit, which will result in a pretax charge against HCC’s earnings of between $5.5 million and $6 million for the company’s fiscal year that ended April 2.

The changes also resulted in the layoff of some workers at Hermetite’s Avon, Mass., plant. Andrew Goldfarb, HCC’s president and chief executive, declined to disclose the exact number of layoffs but said in a telephone interview that it totaled “significantly less than 100” people. HCC has about 900 workers overall.

HCC and Hermetite principally make hermetic, or airtight, seals used to protect electronic components. HCC bought Hermetite in August, 1985, and the company said Hermetite “has been primarily responsible” for HCC’s operating losses the past two years. In the nine months that ended Dec. 27, HCC lost $1.09 million on sales of $22.6 million.

The restructuring mainly calls for HCC to transfer about half of Hermetite’s business from the Avon facility to Lakewood, N.J., where HCC has other operations. The change will reduce Hermetite’s manufacturing costs and improve the company’s overall efficiency, Goldfarb said.