Wärtsilä to Cut 1,000 Jobs

by Ship & Bunker News Team
Wednesday January 29, 2014

Wärtsilä Corp. (Wärtsilä) announced Wednesday that it will reduce its employee count by 1,000, or about 5 percent, in an effort to remain profitable and competitive.

The move comes despite a profitable fourth quarter and full year in 2013, which the company announced in a separate statement.

"Supported by a strong fourth quarter and a focus on cost control, our full year operational profitability reached 11.2%," said CEO Björn Rosengren.

"Cash flow from operating activities developed well, increasing to EUR 578 million ($790 million) during the year.

"There was significant improvement in the marine markets during 2013, and ordering was active in all major vessel segments."

The company reported profits before taxes of €507 million ($693 million) on net sales of €4.65 billion ($6.35 billion) for 2013, compared with €453 million ($619 million) in profits before taxes and net sales of €4.73 billion ($6.46 billion) the previous year.

Wärtsilä said its cuts should save it €60 million ($82 million) annually starting by the end of 2014, while the costs of the restructuring will total €50 million ($68 million).

"In an environment of slow growth and intense competition, we must take steps to adjust our cost structure accordingly," Rosengren said.

"Only by increasing the efficiency and flexibility of our organisation globally can we secure profitability and maintain competitiveness going forward.

"Unfortunately redundancies cannot be avoided."

Ship & Bunker News Team
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