Sotheby’s Inc has approved a restructuring plan that will lead to salary reductions and layoffs because of poorer than expected earnings.
It was unclear how many people would lose their jobs. The art and antiques auction house said on Friday that the plan would affect its North American operations, which employs 605 people.
Its rival, Christie’s, said on Friday that it, too, was reviewing its strategic plan because of the global financial crisis and its sales results for the fall.
PHOTO: AFP
“We are considering reorganization which would lead to layoffs,” spokesman Toby Usnik said.
The company has 2,100 full-time employees worldwide.
In a Thursday filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission, Sotheby’s said that it would take a US$5 million charge against earning in the fourth quarter related to employee restructuring.
Starting next year, the restructuring plan “will reduce annual salaries and related costs by approximately US$7 million, when compared to 2008 levels.”
Unlike Sotheby’s, Christie’s is a privately held company and as such is not required to disclose its financials.
However, Usnik said: “We are on solid financial footing but like all businesses, we’re reviewing our business strategies in light of the current global economic environment.”
More details will be announced early next year, he said.
The auction houses’ important sales of contemporary, modern and impressionist art last month were the first strong indicators of a slowdown in the fine art market. Many works went unsold and many others sold at or below their estimates.
Afterward, Sotheby’s chief executive Bill Ruprecht conceded that the global financial meltdown had an impact on its sales, but predicted that going forward the company would “be meaningfully profitable at significantly lower sales levels.”
Quanta Computer Inc (廣達) chairman Barry Lam (林百里) is expected to share his views about the artificial intelligence (AI) industry’s prospects during his speech at the company’s 37th anniversary ceremony, as AI servers have become a new growth engine for the equipment manufacturing service provider. Lam’s speech is much anticipated, as Quanta has risen as one of the world’s major AI server suppliers. The company reported a 30 percent year-on-year growth in consolidated revenue to NT$1.41 trillion (US$43.35 billion) last year, thanks to fast-growing demand for servers, especially those with AI capabilities. The company told investors in November last year that
Taiwanese suppliers to Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. (TSMC, 台積電) are expected to follow the contract chipmaker’s step to invest in the US, but their relocation may be seven to eight years away, Minister of Economic Affairs J.W. Kuo (郭智輝) said yesterday. When asked by opposition Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Legislator Niu Hsu-ting (牛煦庭) in the legislature about growing concerns that TSMC’s huge investments in the US will prompt its suppliers to follow suit, Kuo said based on the chipmaker’s current limited production volume, it is unlikely to lead its supply chain to go there for now. “Unless TSMC completes its planned six
Intel Corp has named Tasha Chuang (莊蓓瑜) to lead Intel Taiwan in a bid to reinforce relations between the company and its Taiwanese partners. The appointment of Chuang as general manager for Intel Taiwan takes effect on Thursday, the firm said in a statement yesterday. Chuang is to lead her team in Taiwan to pursue product development and sales growth in an effort to reinforce the company’s ties with its partners and clients, Intel said. Chuang was previously in charge of managing Intel’s ties with leading Taiwanese PC brand Asustek Computer Inc (華碩), which included helping Asustek strengthen its global businesses, the company
Power supply and electronic components maker Delta Electronics Inc (台達電) yesterday said second-quarter revenue is expected to surpass the first quarter, which rose 30 percent year-on-year to NT$118.92 billion (US$3.71 billion). Revenue this quarter is likely to grow, as US clients have front-loaded orders ahead of US President Donald Trump’s planned tariffs on Taiwanese goods, Delta chairman Ping Cheng (鄭平) said at an earnings conference in Taipei, referring to the 90-day pause in tariff implementation Trump announced on April 9. While situations in the third and fourth quarters remain unclear, “We will not halt our long-term deployments and do not plan to
RSS