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Unilever axes 8,000 jobs
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April 27, 2001: 8:37 a.m. ET
Anglo-Dutch group's cuts brings European job losses to 16,700 this week
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LONDON (CNN) - Unilever, the world's biggest maker of food and soap, said on Friday it will axe 8,000 jobs as it integrates its U.S. acquisition Bestfoods.
The Unilever cuts bring to 16,700 the number of jobs slashed in Europe this week as the effects of the U.S. economic slowdown feeds through to the region and as companies consolidate
Siemens (FSIE) cut its workforce by 3,500, Swedish truck group Scania announced 1,200 lay-offs, and French kitchen appliance company Moulinex said 4,000 jobs would go.
That follows the cutting of thousands of jobs in recent weeks in the telecoms equipment industry from the likes of Ericsson (ERICY: Research, Estimates) and Motorola (MOT: Research, Estimates)
A spokesman for the Anglo-Dutch consumer goods company Trevor Goring said: "The jobs losses come as we integrate with Bestfoods, which was our biggest merger last year. They will come over a period of three years, mostly in North America and Europe"
The job losses were announced after Unilever announced profits fell 61 percent after it spent billions on acquisitions last year.
The company, which produces goods such as Dove soap, Signal toothpaste, and Hellman's mayonnaise, said first-quarter net profit fell to  254 million ($230 million), or 0.23 a share.
That compares to net income of 649 million, or 0.64 a share, in the same period a year earlier. Unilever said its interest payments on loans to make acquisition was 440 million, up 405 million from a year ago.
"These are a solid set of results, ahead of expectations and the stock should move forward," Nicolas Sochovsky, food industry analyst at Lehman Brothers told Reuters.
In the past year, Unilever has bought U.S. drinks company Slim-Fast, gourmet ice cream maker Ben & Jerry's, and diversified food maker Bestfoods for a total of $24.4 billion.
With the Bestfoods acquisition, the company consolidated its number three position behind Nestle and Philip Morris (MO: Research, Estimates), owner of Kraft foods.
Unilever (ULVR) is in the midst of a five-year restructuring strategy to cut its brands from 1,600 to just 400. The company aims to concentrate on three areas: foods, home and personal care products.
Unilever agreed to sell Bestfoods Baking to Canada's George Weston for $1.8 billion last month. It also sold its Oxo food flavoring brand.
"As we move through 2001, earnings per share will reflect the savings flowing from the integration of Bestfoods and from our restructuring programme," Unilever said in a statement.
Unilever said net profit before extraordinary items and goodwill amortisation fell 5 percent to 684 million at current exchange rates. It was above an analysts' forecast of 581-627 million, with consensus at 599 million, according to Reuters.
Unilever shares rose 3.5 percent in London to 525.5 pence in midday trade. 
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