Nuclear company E.ON says it will cut up to 11,000 jobs as a result of Germany’s nuclear power phase-out.
The company announced catastrophic half-year results on 10 August. Its net income fell to €900 million in the first six months of 2011, a 71 per cent decrease from the same period in 2010.
This is the first time the company has reported a quarterly loss in its ten-year history.
“The main reasons for this are the amendment of the German Nuclear Energy Act with the early unplanned shutdowns of nuclear power plants in Germany and the nuclear-fuel tax,” the company said.
E.ON said it would cut between 9,000 and 11,000 jobs, mostly in administration, to stay afloat. This represents about 13 per cent of its 85,000-strong staff worldwide.
The company’s CEO, Johannes Teyssen, commented, “We need simpler, more transparent and less cost-intensive structures if we are to be successful in the future market. We cannot afford—not only, but particularly in Germany—any unnecessary management levels, processes and duplication of work.”
The company’s profits will not recover in the short term, E.ON’s chief financial officer, Marcus Schenck, said in a conference call, according to news website Euractiv.
The company hopes to save €1.5 billion per year by 2015, and will make formal decisions about job cuts in the autumn.
E.ON said its gas production, power generation in Russia and renewable energy activities showed a “positive development”.