McGraw-Hill Cos, a major educational publisher that also owns the Standard & Poor's (S&P) credit ratings agency and BusinessWeek magazine, said on Tuesday it was cutting more than 600 jobs, resulting in a fourth-quarter charge of US$43.7 million.
The 611 job cuts would come across the company's divisions and would reduce its after-tax earnings by US$0.08 per share, the company said in a statement. About half of the job cuts would be in its education division, it said.
McGraw-Hill attributed the cuts in its financial services division to current business conditions, which were affecting both the credit ratings services and other businesses of S&P.
On Monday, S&P's rival Moody's Corp said it would cut 275 jobs and take pretax charges of US$47 million to US$52 million in the fourth quarter as demand for credit ratings have been disrupted by the recent upheaval in debt markets.
Moody's restructuring, which the company disclosed in a regulatory filing, was part of a previously announced reorganization plan amid declines in some types of debt that the company rates. Moody's shares have fallen over the past year as investors became increasingly concerned about the subprime mortgage crisis and the resulting weakening of the credit markets.
McGraw-Hill said the cuts in its educational division came amid a consolidation of some back-office functions and an increasing push toward digital products.
Last month, BusinessWeek said it was reorganizing its top newsroom ranks to combine editing functions for the print and online editions of the magazine. Twelve people were laid off in the process.
McGraw-Hill shares rose US$0.67 to US$41.19 in after-hours trading. Before the company's announcement, the shares fell US$1.86 to end regular trading at US$40.52.
Moody's shares fell US$0.99 in regular trading to close at US$33.30, then gained US$0.43 after-hours.
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