Under Armour cuts 400 more jobs in turnaround push

[September 20, 2018]  (Reuters) - Sportswear maker Under Armour Inc <UA.N> <UAA.N> will cut about 400 jobs, or 3 percent of its global workforce, as part of efforts to cut costs in its struggle to compete with Nike <NKE.N> and Germany's Adidas <ADSGn.DE> in North America.

A display for Under Armour merchandise is seen inside an athletic store in New York, U.S., August 1, 2017. REUTERS/Shannon Stapleton

Under Armour has been running a cost-cutting program since the start of the year as results remained patchy and the bankruptcies of a handful of U.S. sporting goods added to its woes.

The company said it expects between $200 million and $220 million in expenses related to the restructuring, slightly higher than an earlier estimate.

Under Armour had about 15,800 employees at the end of last year, and the workforce cuts are expected to be completed by March 2019.

"We continue to make difficult decisions to ensure we are best positioned to succeed," said Under Armour Chief Financial Officer David Bergman said in a statement.

The company now expects annual adjusted earnings of 16 to 19 cents per share, compared with a previous estimate of 14 to 19 cents. Analysts on average are expecting 16 cents per share, according to Thomson Reuters I/B/E/S.

Under Armour's Class A shares were up 1 percent in premarket trading.

(Reporting by Aishwarya Venugopal in Bengaluru; Editing by Sai Sachin Ravikumar)

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