Ceradyne to close French plant

Beijing time May 19 Evening News, Ceradyne Inc. (CRDN) announced plans to close a French factory this year to cope with the impact of the economic crisis, and may result in a $11 million trillion to $13 million trillion of spending.　　As of 10:48 (Beijing time 10:48), the company's shares fell 17 cents to $20.28. The company, headquartered in Costa Mesa, Calif., announced that its Esk ceramics French subsidiary had submitted plans to local staff representatives to close the plant in the French Bazet area.　　Under this programme, ESK France will be shedding approximately 95 employees, mainly manufacturing, production and other support personnel. The company did not disclose how much of the proportion of its staff would be affected.　　A spokesman for the company did not immediately respond to the matter. During the closing of the plant, it is expected that some 2.2 million dollars of non-cash pre-tax expenses may be incurred as a result of writedowns or divestiture of assets. If this expenditure is included, the total pre-tax expenditure is expected to be as high as $11 million to $13 million.　　Most of these expenses will be counted in the second-quarter earnings, the company said.　　The company said that production of a variety of industrial ceramics would be transferred to its German subsidiary Esk Ceramics GmbH and Co. KG. Joel Moskowitz, president and chief executive of the company, said the entire Esk Ceramics management team and the rest of the company were putting the challenges posed by the global economic crisis at the centre of the situation.