General Mills To Cut 675 To 725 Jobs

(RTTNews) - General Mills Inc. (GIS), Thursday announced plans to eliminate about 675 to 725 positions, in order to increase its international sales and curb administrative costs as the packaged-food company aims to boost its slowing sales.

The Minneapolis, Minnesota-based company expects to post restructuring charges of $57 million to $62 million, primarily related to one-time employee termination benefits, according to a SEC filing. The company has about 43,000 employees.

General Mills expects the restructuring plan, called Project Compass, to be complete by early fiscal 2017. The company expects the actions to generate annual cost savings of about $45 million to $50 million, with approximately $25 million to $30 million of cost savings being realized in fiscal 2016.

In January, the company had announced its decision to close two plants in Midland and New Albany with job cuts of about 500.

General Mill as well as its peers are struggling to post improved earnings and revenues, hurt largely by continued weakness in food-industry trends in the U.S. with consumers turning more health conscious.

GIS is currently trading at $56.47, down $0.08 or 0.13%, on the NYSE.