WASHINGTON, Dec. 8 (Xinhuanet) -- Colgate-Palmolive Co., the consumer products giant, will close a third of its factories and cut 4,400 jobs, or roughly 12 percent of its worldwide workforce, as part of a four-year restructuring effort, the Wall Street Journal reported Wednesday.

    The program is expected to cost 550 to 650 million dollars after taxes. It aims to close factories and cut manufacturing jobs in an effort to free more money to invest in marketing and sales initiatives, according to the report.

    Colgate executives have been hinting for months that a restructuring was imminent in the face of these pressures, but the scope of the restructuring was larger than many analysts had anticipated.

    The report said the program comes as the entire consumer-products sector has been squeezed by rising costs and increased competition.

    Colgate, which makes Colgate toothpaste and Mennen deodorant, has been pressed by rival Procter & Gamble Co., maker of Crest toothpaste, which has ramped up its advertising spending in recent years.

    Colgate indicated increased competition was driving a need for more marketing spending. "The need for those funds has gone up radically in the last 18 months," Reuben Mark, Colgate's chairman and chief executive, was quoted as saying.

    The company's last big restructuring charge came in 1995, said the report. At that time, Colgate took a charge of 369.2 million dollars when it announced plans to slash 3,000 jobs, or 8.5 percent of its work force, and close 24 factories out of 112.

    The New York company then closed an additional 14 plants between 1995 and today, and added four through acquisitions, bringing its factory count to 78. Enditem