Gibraltar Industries Inc. will close its Enterprise, Miss., plant by the end of this year, a move that will help the steel processor and building materials supplier consolidate its operations, a company spokesman says.

Gibraltar officially announced the closure Wednesday in a news release and warned it doesn’t expect to meet its 2008 earnings guidance due to sharply deteriorating business conditions.

Gibraltar Industries in Buffalo, N.Y., is the parent company of Air Vent Inc. in Enterprise. Earlier this month, plant manager Al Gage said officials there were warned about the closure and 36 full-time and 20 part-time employees would lose their jobs.

Gibraltar spokesman Peter Ciotta (See-OH-ta) said it will consolidate its manufacturing operations into two other existing plants.