Keurig Green Mountain will cut 5 percent of its workforce, the company announced Wednesday after reporting disappointing third-quarter earnings.
The Waterbury-based coffee roaster and beverage company, famous for its single-serving Keurig machines and pods, said it will eliminate 330 jobs as part of a three-year cost-saving plan. It was unclear how many jobs would be lost in Vermont and when.
Dow Jones reported Wednesday that Keurig Green Mountain Inc. would cut its workforce as part of a productivity program that would save $300 million. The company also plans to buy back $1 billion in stock from its shareholders and increase its dividend.
The news came at the same time the company announced decreased third-quarter earnings. According to a news release from Keurig, net sales declined by 5 percent: net sales were $969.6 million on June 27 but $1.02 billion at the same time last year.
Keurig is a publicly traded company on NASDAQ under the ticker GMCR. The company has a market capitalization of $11.62 billion. Last year, the company paid a 25-cent dividend per share, but announced Wednesday it would increase the dividend to 28.75 cents per share.
“While we are not pleased with our revenue growth, we delivered earnings at the high end of our previous guidance,” Brian Kelley, president and chief executive officer of the company said in a news release.
Kelley said the productivity program would help the company “enhance our operational effectiveness and enable us to fund incremental investment in innovation and brand building.” He said one of the company’s new brewers, which launched in the company’s first quarter, is doing well.
“We continue to believe that our hot system has the potential to reach more than 50 million U.S. households over time — more than double its size today,” he said. “In addition, the upcoming launch of our Keurig KOLD system creates an even larger opportunity for long-term growth and value creation.”
Keurig’s stock closed out the day trading in the $75 range, down from about $132 at the start of 2015.
