Netherlands speciality chemical company will reduce its headcount by 1000 over the next 18 months

Netherlands speciality chemical company DSM may be announcing big acquisitions at the moment – but at the same time it is looking to cut jobs. The company has announced plans to reduce its headcount by 1000 over the next 18 months on the back of weak financial results for the first half of 2012.

The restructuring will cost EUR125 million (£100 million) in one-off payments but hoist annual ebitda (earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation, and amortisation – an informal measure of profit) by EUR150 million by 2014.

Among other cost saving moves, the company will shut the Lipid Technologies Provider (LTP) plant in Sweden that it gained when it bought LTP in 2006. LTP develops lipid delivery systems for pharmaceuticals and ‘functional’ foods, such as dietary supplements,  using lipids extracted from natural resources, such as oat oil.