March 27 (Reuters) - Kimberly-Clark ( KMB ) said on

Wednesday it would reorganize into three business units as the

Kleenex tissue maker looks to simplify operations and cut costs.

The Irving, Texas-based consumer goods maker said it would

incur about $1.5 billion in related costs over the next three

years.

Cash costs are expected to be about half of that amount,

primarily related to workforce reductions, it said in a filing

without disclosing the number of jobs it would cut.

The restructuring comes at a time when the company is seeing

benefits from its consistent price hikes wane and

inflation-stricken customers pull back on purchasing its pricier

products.

Kimberly-Clark ( KMB ), like its peers Procter & Gamble ( PG ) and

Unilever ( UL ), is also losing shelf-space at retailers to

more affordable private-label alternatives.

The company's reorganized segments will now include its

business in North America, the international personal care

segment and the international family care and professional

businesses.

It previously had three business segments - personal care,

consumer tissue and Kimberly-Clark ( KMB ) professional - with each

having three geographic sub-divisions.

The company said its planned supply chain modernization is

expected to generate more than $3 billion in gross productivity

and $500 million in working capital savings that would be used

for growth investments.

Kimberly-Clark ( KMB ) expects to complete its transition to the new

organizational structure by the end of 2024. The actions are

expected to generate about $200 million of selling, general and

administrative savings in the next few years.

The company also reaffirmed its annual organic net sales and

adjusted profit targets it had provided in January.

It had missed fourth-quarter sales and profit estimates in

January and warned that weak retail inventories could lead to

flat volumes in the first quarter.

Kimberly-Clark's ( KMB ) shares were up 1.5% before the bell.

(Reporting by Granth Vanaik in Bengaluru; Editing by Shilpi

Majumdar and Shinjini Ganguli)