A losing quarter for Case-New Holland will lead to work force reductions, the company announced in its latest earnings report.

CNH on Thursday announced it dropped from earnings of 47 per diluted share in first quarter 2008 to a per-share loss of 53 cents this January-March.

The company said the global economic environment hit industry sales of both construction and agricultural equipment. CNH reported this was the third consecutive quarter in which its construction equipment net sales fell, and "the underlying economic conditions have continued to decline in the month of April."

The company, which is majority-owned by Italian auto-maker Fiat, also announced it will invest approximately $250 million over the next 12 months in a reorganization "to reduce costs and improve operating efficiency."

Those employee head-count reductions will include cutting up to 15 percent of its salaried employees.

The streamlining efforts will be aimed especially at the construction equipment side, after first-quarter sales plunged 59 percent from a year-ago.

The company said actions will be introduced, starting this quarter, to streamline the business and "significantly reduce the costs associated with the management of the networks."

CNH said it will meet and discuss proposed actions with affected areas before finalizing any initiatives; it expects to announce more details in the coming months.

Company spokesman Ralph Traviati said Friday there will be a voluntary early-retirement component to the reorganization. He said he had no information about the impact for the Racine area, where CNH employs about 1,800 people.

Overall, equipment sales dropped by 25.5 percent from $4.1 billion in first quarter 2008 to $3.1 billion last quarter.

Including costs of the reorganization, CNH reported that a first-quarter 2008 profit of $125 million became a $125 million loss in this year's first quarter.

CNH President and Chief Executive Officer Harold Boyanovsky stated in the release, "We anticipated a turbulent 2009 and expected the first quarter to be particularly challenging, and that certainly was the case."

CNH projected that equipment sales for 2009 will be down 15-25 percent from 2008. It cited "some first-half strength in North American high-horsepower tractors and combines."

But that is offset by declines in all other agricultural equipment markets, further weakness in construction equipment sales and effects of a stronger U.S. dollar.