Debt-ridden flat-panel maker Chunghwa Picture Tubes Ltd (CPT, 中華映管) yesterday said it is to lay off nearly 70 percent of its local workforce to cut costs and streamline production as it struggles to emerge from restructuring.
CPT on Dec. 13 last year submitted a restructuring plan to the Taoyuan District Court as it sought to survive as a viable entity.
The plan was rejected by the court, with the judge preferring a debt refinancing plan over a complete restructuring of the firm.
However, the panel maker is apparently determined to stick to its plan.
CPT yesterday said it has submitted a personnel adjustment plan to the Taoyuan Department of Labor, aiming to eliminate 2,500 employees at its fabs in the city’s Longtan (龍潭) and Yangmei (楊梅) districts.
The layoff plan is the largest in scale in the region after HTC Corp (宏達電) laid off 1,500 local workers in July last year, the department official in charge of the matter said by telephone.
CPT has 3,602 employees at the fabs, the department official said, citing the company’s application.
The cuts are to take effect on May 4, the official said.
“The company has sunk into financial woes due to an unfavorable environment,” CPT spokesman Huang Shi-chang (黃世昌) said in a statement filed with the Taiwan Stock Exchange.
“The company has filed an application with the Taoyuan District Court to proceed with restructuring,” Huang said.
“Based on our restructuring plan, the company should streamline its businesses and dispose of idled capacities to see a revival, as well as cutting expenditure on marketing, personnel and operations,” Huang said.
CPT had accumulated NT$34.8 billion (US$1.13 billion) in debt as of Sept. 30 last year, according to figures provided by the firm.
The restructuring plan has weighed on its businesses, with customers shifting orders to CPT’s peers.
The panel maker saw revenue plunge 95 percent to NT$103 million last month from NT$2.06 billion in February last year.
On a monthly basis, revenue contracted 41 percent from NT$174 million in January.
The firm saw shipments plunge 67 percent for flat panels used in mobile phones and vehicles, while it stopped producing large panels entirely, the company said.
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