French group Saint-Gobain plans to cut 6,000 jobs world wide within 12m, including 4,000 by end/2008, to adapt to the economic downturn, the company said 24/7/08. The workforce reductions are expected to save the group 435M Euros for the full year (300M Euros/08). Most of the job losses will be made in the US, the UK & Spain, where the construction market is clearly deteriorating. Excluding capital gains & losses, asset write-downs as well as the fine imposed by the EC for flat glass price fixing in Europe, Saint-Gobain's net profit came in at 1.1BN Euros in 1H 2008, up 3.2% on the year. The difficult economic climate & rising commodity & energy prices prompted SG to lower its full-year earnings outlook. The firm now expects to maintain operating & net profit at last year's levels at constant exchange rates, after previously forecasting a "modest" growth.
