AM I NEXT? NO LOVE AT NATIONAL OILWELL VARCO (UPDATED)

DECEMBER 3, 2019 — NOV ANNOUNCES THE SUSPENSION OF OPERATIONS AT THE GALENA PARK TEXAS FACILITY — 85 LAYOFFS

The company plans to suspend operations at a Galena Park facility in Houston, Texas as a reaction to the continuing downturn in oil exploration, production, and transportation activities.

According to CEO Clay Williams, "As our industry battles deep cyclicality and divergent market conditions, the company remains committed to improving its financial returns while also helping our customers improve the efficiency, environmental performance and safety of their operations.”

Previous report…

Houston, Texas-based National Oilwell Varco, the oilfield services company has announced a major $5.9 billion-dollar loss which the company attributes to a “generational oilfield downturn.”

According to Clay Williams, National Oilwell Varco’s CEO …

“NOV continues to face challenging cross-currents as it navigates a generational oilfield downturn. International and offshore markets are exhibiting growth, while North America land markets are declining as customers slash spending. Nevertheless, consolidated results improved sequentially in each of our three business segments, as we pivot to higher-growth areas. We were pleased to see demand for NOV’s technology and equipment from international and offshore customers drive our third consecutive quarter of rising bookings for capital equipment.”

“Though we are well-positioned to support growth in the offshore and international markets as customers increase activity after years of curtailed spending, severe capital austerity and lower activity in North America are resulting in a rapid change in our business mix. This presents NOV with both opportunities and challenges. Growing backlogs will allow us to better balance loading and improve absorption across NOV’s global footprint, while the mix shift creates potential for temporary inventory and payment dislocations. We are nevertheless resolute on improving the working capital intensity of our business as we execute through the second half of the year.”

“The increased emphasis on capital discipline from our customer base is driving them to do more with less, and it has become clear in the second quarter that this approach is not going away anytime soon. Recognition of this challenging market dynamic, as well as lower equity values and diminished availability of capital for the energy sector led to the Company’s significant impairment charge this quarter. In this environment NOV is focused on cutting our cost structure and managing working capital to improve cash flow and return on capital, while we continue to address our customers’ most challenging needs with the critical technology and equipment that NOV provides.”

With 35,000 employees located in 65 nations, one almost expects a perfunctory announcement of restructuring and layoffs.

Change is coming. There will always be a tomorrow, no matter how much you may try to ignore it. There are no guarantees in life, or promises for a bright future. Just because something bad hasn't happened yet, doesn't mean it won't. It can happen to anyone, anytime, anywhere. No one is guaranteed to wake up tomorrow and still have a job by evening. Are you now wondering, Am I Next?

AM I NEXT? IS THE HANDWRITING ON THE WALL AT KRAFT HEINZ? (PART 1)

2018 has not been kind to the 2015 merger between Kraft and Heinz companies, whose iconic brands are instantly recognized by almost everyone. As per the announcement of the 2018 yearly results, the outlook is clouded by unknowns.

• Putting a happy face on a loss of $12.6 billion, Kraft Heinz CEO, Bernardo Hees noted, “Our fourth quarter and full year 2018 results reflect our commitment to re-establish commercial growth of our iconic brands, turn around consumption trends in several key categories, and expand into new category and geographic whitespaces. We are pleased with those actions, the returns on our investments, and the momentum built for 2019. However, profitability fell short of our expectations due to a combination of unanticipated cost inflation and lower-than-planned savings. Going forward, our global focus will remain on leveraging our in-house capabilities, developing our talented people, and delivering top-tier growth at industry-leading margins.”

• The company adjusted the value of certain “goodwill” and intangible assets, including the Kraft and Oscar Meyer trademarks, downward by $15.4 billion.

• Dividend cut by 36% from $0.625 per share to $0.40 per share and according to CEO Bernardo Hees, “We believe this action will help us accelerate our deleveraging plan, provide us strategic advantage through a stronger balance sheet, support commercial investments and set a payout level that can both grow over time and accommodate additional divestitures. By doing this we can improve our growth and returns over time.” 

• Under “Supplemental Information,” the company noted that “The Company received a subpoena in October 2018 from the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (the "SEC") associated with an investigation into the Company's procurement area, more specifically the Company's accounting policies, procedures, and internal controls related to its procurement function, including, but not limited to, agreements, side agreements, and changes or modifications to its agreements with its vendors.” As per an “internal investigation,” the company “recorded a $25 million increase to costs of products sold as an out of period correction” and improved its internal controls.

Employees should continually check for signs of a mass layoff as one of the oldest CEO tricks in the book to increase profits and please Wall Street is to reduce costs and headcount.

There are no guarantees in life, or promises for a bright future. Just because something bad hasn't happened yet, doesn't mean it won't. It can happen to anyone, anytime, anywhere ... are you now wondering, Am I Next?

AM I NEXT? THE HANDWRITING IS ON THE WALL AT DIEBOLD NIXDORF

JUNE 1, 2023 — CHAPTER 11 BANKRUPTCY

Employees should look forward to organizational changes and a further reduction in force.

“Diebold Nixdorf announced it has entered into a restructuring support agreement with certain of its key financial stakeholders to effectuate a comprehensive debt restructuring transaction that is intended to be completed efficiently and quickly.”

“The restructuring is expected to significantly reduce debt and leverage levels and provide substantial additional liquidity to support seamless ongoing operations and establish a long-term, sustainable capital structure for the Company. The Company will continue to pay vendors and suppliers through the expected restructuring process in the ordinary course of business.”

“The restructuring support agreement contemplates the effectuation of a deleveraging transaction through, among other things, (i) a pre-packaged chapter 11 plan of reorganization to be filed by the Company and certain of its subsidiaries (collectively, the "Debtors") contemporaneously with the commencement by the Debtors of voluntary cases under chapter 11 of title 11 of the U.S. Bankruptcy Code, (ii) a scheme of arrangement to be filed by Diebold Nixdorf Dutch Holding B.V. (the "Dutch Issuer") and certain of the Company's subsidiaries contemporaneously with the commencement by Dutch Issuer of voluntary scheme proceedings under the Dutch Act on Confirmation of Extrajudicial Plans and (iii) recognition of such scheme of arrangement pursuant to a case commenced under chapter 15 of the U.S. Bankruptcy Code by the Dutch Issuer.”

NOVEMBER 7, 2018 — Original post…

Canton, Ohio-based Diebold Nixdorf, a maker of financial point-of-sale systems and ATMs has confirmed that their restructuring and cost-containment program named DN Now will result in approximately 1,600 layoffs, thinning the ranks of middle managers.

In responding to a question about headcount reductions from JPMorgan Securities analyst Paul Coster, “… And my other question is on the headcount reductions. Can you just talk to us about whether it's surgical or whether it's across the board? And I guess we're generally speaking kind of feel better if there were discrete functions being cut out or discrete products. But I think you get what I'm aiming at here, perhaps you can elaborate?”

DN CEO Gerrard B. Schmid responded, “Yes, sure. So let me just start at a high level. A lot of the focus of that effort has been to impact non-customer-facing roles. So we have not impacted our frontline services technicians or our frontline sales force. We've really been looking at middle management roles in particular. There are roughly 1,600 people that are impacted by this effort. And as I said, 85% have exit dates. The work has been both surgical and across the board. This wasn't a blunt instrument approach that we adopted. It was a very, very analytical thoughtful look at spans of control, and levels of management across the board.

Schmid went on to say, “We expect stronger cost savings from the new operating model we implemented during the quarter, and we also initiated a services modernization plan designed to improve service levels, enhance profitability and increase customer satisfaction. When combined with the actions we are taking to simplify our product portfolio, we are increasing our savings target to approximately $250 million annually by the end of 2021. We are also driving several other operational initiatives to improve our net working capital and efficiency levels, and expect these to add further savings in future quarters.”

Happy talk to Wall Street from a company that has recently reported a 38-year low, a 52-week stock price that fell from $22 to $3.42 on top of continuing losses of $212.6 million for the quarter ending September 30, 2018, which does not compare favorably with a loss of $36 million a year ago.

Change is coming. There will always be a tomorrow, no matter how much you may try to ignore it. There are no guarantees in life or promises for a bright future. We see good people being laid off through no fault of their own. Just because something bad hasn't happened yet, doesn't mean it won't. It can happen to anyone, anytime, anywhere. No one is guaranteed to wake up tomorrow and still have a job by evening. Are you now wondering, Am I Next?