© Steven Depolo/Flickr
Swedish meat processor HKScan has announced that it will cut 165 jobs and streamline its Finnish production operations, as a result of a disappointing third quarter.
In the three months to 30 September, HKScan’s year-on-year net sales fell to €416.2 million from last year’s figure of €452.4 million, and the company’s quarterly operating profit fell €10.1 million, which the company partially attributed to a halt in production at its Rauma poultry site.
HKScan claims that the job cuts and restructuring of its Finnish operations will save the company around €7 million a year. The changes form part of the company’s efficiency improvement programme, announced earlier this year, which aims to save €40 million a year from 2020 onwards.
HKScan president and CEO Jari Latvanen said: “Our third quarter and January–September results were clearly disappointing. During the third quarter, we succeeded in improving further our delivery capability from the Rauma poultry unit, but the ramp-up related challenges still burdened our result.
“We continue to improve the efficiency and financial performance of the Rauma plant. In the long run, the unit will substantially improve our efficiency and competitiveness, thus contributing to HKScan’s strategy implementation. Additionally, we see some positive signs of value growth in sales both in Sweden and Baltics.
“In July 2018, we further specified our group-wide efficiency improvement programme. The programme targets €40 million annual savings during the year 2020 and onwards.
“We expect the most significant benefits of the programme to stem from improved operational efficiency. On top of that, we will, among other things, further reduce administrative costs and utilise Group synergies to a greater extent than before.
“As part of the above-mentioned efficiency improvement programme, we initiated a strategic review related to the rationalisation and adjustment of the Finnish production operations with a target to improve the profitability and competitiveness of our operations.
“As a result of the process, the number of employees will decrease. Additionally, all units within the scope of the negotiations will prepare for location-specific temporary layoffs due to seasonal fluctuations.”
© FoodBev Media Ltd 2024