Imperial Tobacco will axe 2,440 jobs

Source from:  Thu Jun 19, news.yahoo.com LONDON (AFP) 06/20/2008

Imperial Tobacco said on Thursday that it would cut about 2,440 jobs, including 1,060 positions in France, as it restructures after the group's takeover of French-Spanish rival Altadis. Imperial Tobacco bought Altadis earlier this year in a deal worth 12.8 billion euros (18.8 billion dollars), creating a tobacco giant which incorporates well-known brands Embassy cigarettes and Montecristo cigars. "Imperial Tobacco Group has today announced a number of restructuring projects in Europe which it proposes to implement progressively over the next three years as part of the integration of Imperial Tobacco and Altadis," the group said in a statement to the London Stock Exchange. It added: "The enlarged group employs around 40,000 people worldwide. The restructuring projects will potentially reduce this number by around 2,440" or six percent. Imperial said that the majority of the cuts would fall in France, with about 1,060 job losses. The group would also axe about 830 positions in Spain, 260 in Britain, 250 in Germany and 100 in Russia. The group's facilities in Belgium, Italy, Ukraine and Slovakia would also be affected by 140 losses. Imperial said it would create 200 jobs in Poland. "The proposed restructurings, combined with other integration initiatives, will enable the group to generate the previously announced annual operating efficiencies of approximately 300 million euros (464 million dollars) by the end of the financial year ending 30 September 2010," Imperial said. It added that cost savings would climb to 400 million euros by 2012. Imperial's purchase of Altadis created Europe's second-biggest tobacco company, behind Altria Group's Philip Morris, making about 312 billion cigarettes a year. Enditem