The German industrial group Bosch said on Thursday that 2009 would be one of its toughest years ever and announced plans to cut 3000 staff worldwide.
"The Bosch Group expects 2009 to be one of the most difficult years in the history of the company," a statement that accompanied its annual report said.
The company will fire 3000 workers worldwide, a figure that was likely to rise later this year, Bosch chairman Franz Fehrenbach said.
While the first quarter of 2009 was particularly tough for Bosch globally, the coming quarters should show some improvement, the group's statement added.
Last year, Bosch made a pre-tax profit of E372 million ($686.09 million), 87% less than in 2007.
Sales slipped by 2.6% to E45.1 billion ($83.18 billion), in part owing to unfavourable foreign exchange effects.
Bosch employs some 282,000 people in more than 60 countries.
Since late 2008, the company has reduced working hours for a total of 58,000 workers in Germany and another 35,000 elsewhere.
Bosch's auto parts division, its main source of revenue, saw sales lose 6.9% from the 2007 level, mainly due to slumps in Europe and North America.
Asia-Pacific sales gained however, as did sales of consumer goods, tools and industrial products.
Bosch's international presence and product diversification helped in part to compensate for losses in certain regions and product lines, the statement said.
The group also said that despite the global recession, its "financial position remains healthy" with around E8 billion ($14.75 billion) in liquidity.
That would serve to finance research and development and the construction of a plant to make crystalline solar cells and modules.
"Wherever we are faced with cyclical fluctuations in workload, our aim is to maintain our core team as far as possible," the statement quoted Fehrenbach as saying.
"At the same time, however, we have to tackle structural adjustments that are pending anyway, as well as reduce any foreseeable excess capacity," he added.
AFP
