Pharmaceutical Giants !

AstraZeneca to axe 7,000 more jobs
Agence France-PresseFirst Posted 21:03:00 01/29/2009


When fully implemented, these and other new business reshaping activities, combined with revised estimates for the original 2007 program ... will result in the overall program delivering a reduction of approximately 15,000 positions by 2013."
The program will reap cost savings of $2.5 billion per year following its full implementation, compared with the previous annual forecast of $1.4 billion.
AstraZeneca said that it expected to be saving $2.1 billion before the end of 2010, with the rest of the savings achieved by 2013.
"All reductions in positions are subject to consultations with works councils, trade unions and other employee representatives and in accordance with local labor laws," it added.
The group announced that its 2008 annual net profits rose nine percent to $6.10 billion (Є4.56 billion) on strength in emerging markets.
Revenue gained 6.9 percent to $31.60 billion last year.
"AstraZeneca has delivered a robust performance in an increasingly challenging market environment," chief executive David Brennan said in the statement.
"I am particularly pleased with our continued success in globalizing our business, as shown by our strong performance in emerging markets.
"We are also making good headway in further improving the efficiency of our organization. The expansion in the scope of our restructuring efforts is another important step towards sustaining our long-term competitiveness."