Arvika Gjuteri begärs i konkurs av ledningen, rapporterar SVT Värmlandsnytt. Företaget har stått under rekonstruktion sedan i september, men inget har hjälpt.
Personalstyrkan har bantats i flera omgångar från 369 till 150.
Vd Christina Gabrielsson hoppas att konkursen kan innebära en omstart för företaget. Gjuteriet tillverkar gjutgods till den tunga fordonsindustrin och har känt av en minskad orderingång i takt med krisen i den branschen.
Source: di.se
Käännös:
Componenta Dökümcülük Commerce and Industry Inc. in 2009 between the dates of May 10-20 and 23-31 will be a break in production.
In the description of Dökümcülük Componenta to İMKB, foreign and domestic markets, according to the demand decreases, Orhangazi Installations between 10-20 May and 23-31 May 2009 date has been announced will not make production.
In explanation, Orhangazi plant employed approximately 1100 people will not be expressed, within the specified time blue collar employees to take advantage of the short-run benefits, white collar staff to use the annual leave has been saved.
Useat Suomessa toimivat yritykset ovat viime aikoina ehdottaneet työntekijöilleen erittäin suuria palkanalennuksia.
MTV:n uutisten saamien tietojen mukaan eräissä yrityksissä työnantaja on esittänyt jopa 20 prosentin palkanalennuksia. Vastineeksi työnantaja lupaa, ettei yrityksessä aloiteta yt-neuvotteluja.
Palkanalennustarjoukseen sisältyy myös ehdotus siitä, että työntekijä voi lainata työnantajalta puuttuvan palkanosan markkinakorolla. Tapaa on käytetty mm. Yhdysvalloissa ja Saksassa.
Componenta neuvottelee 20 prosentin leikkauksesta
Esimerkiksi metallikonserni Componenta neuvottelee toimihenkilöitä koskevista 20 prosentin palkanalennuksista. Yhtiön mukaan asia koskee koko konsernissa 300 ihmistä, joista runsaat 100 on Suomessa.
Componentan toimitusjohtajan Heikki Lehtosen mukaan toimenpide on tarkoitettu väliaikaiseksi.
– Yritämme varmistaa, että selviämme vaikeimman ajan ylitse. Toisena osana neuvottelua on luvattu maksaa palkanalennukset takaisin, kun tehdään taas tulosta, joka mahdollistaa sen, sanoo Lehtonen MTV:n uutisille.
Lehtosen arvion mukaan takaisinmaksu voisi tapahtua aikaisintaan vuoden 2010 lopulla.
Lehtosen mukaan ei kuitenkaan voida antaa täyttä varmuutta siitä, että rajummilta toimilta vältytään.
Componentan palkanalennusten on tarkoitus astua voimaan, kun neuvottelut jokaisen työntekijän kanssa on saatu päätökseen arviolta parin viikon kuluttua.
Componentan toimitusjohtaja Heikki Lehtonen sanoo, että palkanalennukset toteuttaneen joka tapauksessa riippumatta siitä, kuinka moni suostuu järjestelyyn. Lehtosen mukaan täytyy lisäksi miettiä muita toimenpiteitä, jos säästötavoitteeseen ei päästä.
TU: Ei pidä suostua
Toimihenkilöunioni suhtautuu tietoihin palkka-aleen houkuttelemisesta kielteisesti. Unionin sopimusala-asiamies Hannu Kohtaniemi sanoo MTV:n haastattelussa, että yhteydenottoja on tullut. Kohtaniemen mukaan varsinkin ajatus palkan ottamisesta lainana työnantajalta on aivan ennenkuulumatonta.
Kohtaniemen mukaan, jos suostuu työnanatajan ehdotukseen, ei ole takeita, mitä tulevaisuudessa seuraa.
– Eläkerahat eivät kerry ja myös työttömyysturvan perusteeksi tuleva palkka on myöskin pienempi, jos tällaiseen suostuu, Kohtaniemi varoittaa.
Asiamies ei osaa sanoa, mistä suomalaisyritykset ovat saaneet idean palkka-alesta.
Hänen mukaansa kyse on suurista pörssiyrityksistä. Kohtaniemi mainitsee haastattelussa, että yhteydenottoja on tullut ainakin Turun seudulta, Kokkolasta ja Pietarsaaresta.
Yritysten työntekijät ovat olleet Hannu Kohtaniemen mukaan ymmällään ja huolissaan ehdotuksista. Toimihenkilöunionin mukaan työntekijöitä on myös uhkailtu, jos ehdotusta ei hyväksytä.
(MTV3)
* Volvo Q1 operating loss 4.53 billion Swedish crowns
* European truck sales down 32.9 pct in March
* UK car production falls 51.3 pct in March
* Volvo down 5.0 pct; Valeo down 1.8 pct
By Niklas Pollard and Helen Massy-Beresford
STOCKHOLM/PARIS, April 24 (Reuters) – Swedish truck maker Volvo (VOLVb.ST) and French car parts maker Valeo (VLOF.PA) posted first-quarter losses on Friday, as European industry data underlined the scale of the crisis engulfing the sector.
Volvo posted a larger-than-expected operating loss of 4.53 billion Swedish crowns ($549.1 million) for the period, also cutting its market outlook, while France’s Valeo pledged to step up cost-cutting after a Q1 operating loss of 66 million euros ($86.93 million). [ID:nLO690029]
“We knew that (Volvo’s) figures would be bad. The question was only if they would be really, really bad, and they were,” Cheuvreux analyst Patrick Sjoblom said.
“The financial services business is also heading downhill faster than I had expected,” Sjoblom added.
Volvo shares were down 5.0 percent in late morning trade, compared with a DJ Stoxx European Autos index .SXAP up 0.99 percent. Valeo shares were down 1.8 percent.
“Obviously those are levels of loss that are not sustainable. We cannot stay there,” said Chief Executive Leif Johansson, referring to the operating loss. “We have in the quarter had to make, and will continue to make, dramatic reductions in production capacity.”
The challenge facing Volvo — the world’s second largest truck maker — was underlined by industry data showing that new commercial vehicle sales in Europe plunged 32.9 percent in March and 35.6 percent in the first quarter as a whole. [ID:nLO329628]
COLLAPSE IN DEMAND
In a major setback after years of robust sales, the global financial crisis and ensuing collapse in demand for heavy-duty trucks has left Volvo and its peers in the European truck industry struggling to slash capacity and costs.
The doldrums encountered by the heavy-duty truck makers are only a shade less severe than those experienced by the auto industry, where the likes of Chrysler [CBS.UL] and General Motors (GM.N) are struggling to survive. [ID:nLN620342]
Volvo, which manufactures heavy-duty trucks under the Renault (RENA.PA), Mack, Nissan Diesel (NSNDF.PK) and Eicher (EICH.BO) brands, as well as its own name, said order bookings in the quarter slumped 65 percent in the quarter, with a drop of 71 percent in its key European market alone.
Volvo said it expected European heavy-duty truck demand to be slashed by at least half this year, having previously forecast a 30-40 percent decline.
Meanwhile in France, first-quarter losses and a bolstered cost-reduction plan at Valeo underlined the severe problems the slump in demand for cars is causing suppliers.
Valeo first-quarter sales fell 33.4 percent to 1.624 billion euros, but the group’s new CEO Jacques Aschenbroich said he expected the second quarter to perform in line with the month of March, when scrapping incentives — cash bonuses paid to drivers who trade in old models for new — introduced by several governments had some early positive effects on car sales. [ID:nLO176593]
In the UK, March car production fell 51.3 percent year-on-year, the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders said on Friday. [ID:nLO628237]
The UK on Tuesday announced plans to boost the flagging car industry with a scrapping incentive scheme while on Friday Chancellor Angela Merkel said there would be no extension to Germany’s car-scrapping scheme. [ID:nLM73572] [nBAT002865]
Friday’s figures show that urgent action is needed to kick-start demand, and the scheme is “an important first step”, SMMT Chief Executive Paul Everitt said.
European sector consolidation remained in focus, with an Opel board member saying Magna International (MGa.TO) would be welcome as an investor in the German unit of GM, which is being spun off with the UK’s Vauxhall Motors, and seeking outside investors. [ID:WEA8266]
Armin Schild, a senior labour leader and Opel supervisory board member speaking on German television poured scorn on the idea of a Fiat bid for Opel.
“We have had experience of working with Fiat — this experience has been extraordinarily bad,” he said referring to the acrimonious end of an alliance between Fiat and General Motors in 2005. [nLO260277]
A spokesman for Germany’s economy ministry said on Friday that the government had been holding talks with investors interested in Opel for some time. ($1=8.249 Swedish crowns) ($1=.7592 euros) (Additional reporting by Victoria Klesty, Matthias Blamont, Michael Shields, Peter Dinkloh, Avril Ormsby; editing by Mike Nesbit)
via WRAPUP 1-Volvo, Valeo post losses; industry data bleak | Deals | Private Capital | Reuters.
In March, new heavy truck registrations were down 43.7% to 16,792 units in Europe*. In Western Europe, registrations dropped by 38.5% reflecting a downturn across the board, varying from -16.4% in Germany to -30.3% in France, -46.4% in the UK, -47.6% in Italy, -58.7% in the Netherlands and -73.0% in Spain. In the new EU Member States, results dropped by 70.5%. Poland remained the largest market, although down 69.1%.
Three months into the year, the effect of the economic crisis added up to a minus of 41.5%, with a 75.5% decrease in Spain, 69.4% in Poland, 45.4% in the UK, 38.2% in Italy, 31.9% in the Netherlands, 29.5% in France, 29.3% in Germany and 21% in Belgium.
* Says cuts forced by sharp global decline in demand
* Says job cuts to affect operations in Sweden (Adds company, analyst comment, background)
STOCKHOLM, April 22 (Reuters) – World number two truck maker Volvo (VOLVb.ST) said on Wednesday it would cut a further 1,543 jobs at the group as it sought to adjust to plummeting demand across all its main markets.
Volvo said in a statement employees at its Volvo Trucks, Construction Equipment, Penta and Powertrain units would be affected by the lay-offs.
“As a result of the sharp decline on world markets for heavy vehicles, the Volvo Group is being forced to implement new personnel reductions within its Swedish operations,” the company said in a statement.
Volvo shares were up sharply already ahead of the news amid broad gains in the Stockholm equity market. At 0938 GMT Volvo shares rose 8.8 percent to 53.75 crowns.
The job cuts announced on Wednesday come on top of the thousands of staff the company is already in the process of laying off in order to come to grips with the sharpest decline in heavy-duty truck markets in living memory.
A Volvo spokesman said the job cuts would reduce costs, but declined to give any specific figure for the savings.
“It is no huge surprise that they make further cuts but it underlines how bad things really are,” said an analyst who asked not to be identified.
“The previous wave of cuts came in October and this clearly shows that things have not improved since then.”
Volvo, which manufactures heavy-duty trucks under the Renault, Mack, Nissan Diesel and Eicher brands, as well as its own name, said it was also discussing the possibility of introducing a shortened work weeks with unions.
Plunging demand and the resulting overcapacity led the Swedish company to report a pretax loss in the final quarter of last year and many analysts see the company staying in the red throughout this year.
“The truth is that if the company is to survive, it must push down costs. But if they do this early enough, and powerfully, they can definitely survive on their current balance sheet,” a second analyst said.
Volvo reports its first-quarter results on Friday.
Over the month of February, 14,131 new heavy trucks were registered in Europe, or 46.4% less than a year ago. Despite a 42.7% plunge, Germany remained the largest market with 3,185 new heavy trucks, closely followed by France -25.9% and 3,018 units. The Netherlands fared best among the major markets, contracting by 15.2% and recording 1,264 new vehicles. Results in Italy and Spain dropped by 49.6% and 76.9% respectively. In the new EU Member States, Poland, the most important market, plunged by 71.6%.
The cumulative figures from January to February show a 36.5% decrease in Western Europe and a 67.9% drop in the new EU Member States, resulting in an overall 40.5% decline. In absolute figures, Germany
-35.0 registered the most vehicles, followed by France -29.1%, Italy -34.1%, the Netherlands -7.1%, the UK -45.7%, Belgium -21.6%, Spain -76.5% and Poland -68.8%.
* Profit falls from 245 mln Sfr in 2007
* Hit by Q4 slump in demand
* No 2009 outlook, confirms mid-term targets
ZURICH, Feb 24 (Reuters) – Full-year net profit at Swiss car parts supplier and engineering group Georg Fischer <FIN.S> dropped to 69 million Swiss francs ($59 million), hit by a slump in demand in the fourth quarter.
Profit fell from 245 million francs the previous year and the group said on Tuesday it was unable to give any proper guidance for 2009 due to the uncertain economic situation but said it was sticking to its mid-term targets.
“The deterioration in external conditions in the course of 2008 was on a virtually unprecedented scale,” Fischer said in a statement.
“Starting in October our main market sector, the automotive industry, went into a swift decline owing to the global financial and economic crisis,” it added.
Fischer said last month it was cutting some 340 jobs, half of them in Switzerland, as it fights to maintain its profitability in adverse conditions. [ID:nLD695485]
($1=1.165 Swiss Francs)
The Annual General Meeting of Componenta Corporation, held on 23 February 2009, approved the financial statement for the financial year 1 January – 31 December 2008, as well as discharged the members of the Board of Directors and the President and CEO from liability. The Annual General Meeting decided to distribute a dividend of thirty (30) cents per share for the financial year 1 January – 31 December 2008. The proposal of the Board of Directors to the Annual General Meeting was fifty (50) cents per share that was the same as the dividend distributed for the year 2007.
(stock exchange release)
Market Overview
During the fourth quarter 2008, global light vehicle production (LVP) is estimated by CSM and J.D. Power to have decreased by more than 20% while LVP in the Triad, where Autoliv generates close to 90% of its sales, dropped by approximately 25% compared to the same quarter 2007.
In Europe (including Eastern Europe), where Autoliv derives more than half of its revenues, LVP is estimated to have dropped by almost 30% according to preliminary figures. The important Western European market is estimated to have declined by approximately 30% and the Eastern market by close to 25%. The overall European LVP ended more than 20 percentage points weaker than expected at the beginning of the fourth quarter 2008.
In North America, which accounts for almost one quarter of consolidated revenues, LVP dropped by 26% which was 7 percentage points worse than expected at the beginning of the quarter. Light truck production decreased by 38% and car production by 10%. GM cut their production by 23%, Ford their production by 29% and Chrysler their production by 37%. The Asian and European vehicle manufacturers reduced their production in the region by 22%.
In Japan, which accounts for about one tenth of Autoliv’s consolidated sales, LVP was reduced by 18%. This
reduction affected particularly the manufacturing levels for vehicles with higher safety content, for instance, vehicles for export to markets in North America and Western Europe.
In the Rest of the World (RoW), which accounts for more than one tenth of sales, LVP was expected to be flat but declined instead by 12%. This decline affected particularly China as well as export vehicles for North America and Western Europe with higher safety content. Autoliv’s market is driven not only by vehicle production but also by the fact that vehicles are being equipped with more safety systems in response to new crash test programs and regulations. For instance, next month a more stringent crash-test rating program will be introduced by EuroNCAP. In the U.S., a similar revision of NHTSA’s crash-test rating program has been finalized and will be implemented by the fall of 2010.
Outlook
Additionally, LVP levels during the first quarter will be affected by substantial inventory reductions, and could turn out to be the low point for the year. Provided that these trends and assumptions prevail, it could be possible to report a positive operating income excluding restructuring costs later in the year, and potentially even for the full year 2009.
Full report available here.
