Briggs & Stratton announced Thursday morning they will be closing their Murray facility.
Media reports indicate the factory will be closed by the fall of 2020 and that the closure would eliminate around 600 full-time jobs. The company says a difficult market driven by the lack of affordable housing as a reason for the slowdown in the demand for its small vertical-shaft engines that are made in the Murray factory. The closure is expected to save the company up to $14 million by 2021.
Employees affected will reportedly be offered the chance to relocate to another facility, including the Poplar Bluff, Missouri plant, which will be hiring to help deal with increased production after the shutdown in western Kentucky.
According to Marketwatch, shares of Briggs & Stratton Corp. dropped 43% toward a 44-year low in premarket trading Thursday. That came after the corporation reported a surprise loss for its fiscal fourth quarter and revenue that fell short of expectation while cutting its full-year outlook.
The net loss for the quarter ended in June was about $18.5 million, or 45 cents a share, from $11.8 million, or 29 cents a share, in the same period a year ago.
