Axpo cuts jobs as profits fall
Swiss energy group Axpo has announced it will cut 140 jobs out of 4,400 in March, as it reorganises its management and support sectors.
The move, along with the implementation of a more flexible production strategy and the merging of some activities, should save the Zurich-based company an estimated SFr100 million ($106.8 million) in the medium term.
Other power companies had already announced job cuts over the past few months, with Bern’s BKW announcing it would let more than 250 employees go and Alpiq losing 450.
The decision comes as Axpo revealed on Monday that its net profit for the 2010/2011 financial year declined by 89 per cent to SFr45 million.
The drop was largely due to bigger than expected depreciation of the value of the firm’s nuclear power plant holdings, which rose from SFr311 million to SFr860 million.
The company said this was due in part to the Swiss government’s decision to gradually abandon nuclear power in the wake of the Fukushima disaster.
Axpo, which is owned by the cantons of northeastern Switzerland and their utility companies, said it plans to invest SFr21 billion over the next two decades.
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