CENTRICA CUTS 6,000 JOBS

UK-based Centrica said Thursday it will cut 6,000 jobs and shrink the size of its oil business as it refocuses on energy supply.

According to Reuters, the company will slash its headcount by about 6,000, although it expects to create 2,000 positions in new business areas.

Centrica has not disclosed details about the layoffs but said that half of the cuts will be made through redundancies.

The firm also plans to sell up to $1.56 billion worth of wind and upstream assets by 2017, Reuters added.

Centrica is targeting $1.171 billion, or about £750 million, in cost efficiencies per year by 2020, with about two-thirds of those savings expected to be delivered by the end of 2018.

CEO Iain Conn told investors that Centrica now considers its Canadian E&P business to be "non-core."

"We will not look to grow our Canadian business and will seek ways to maximize value from our existing position in close coordination with our partner, Qatar Petroleum," Conn said.

reuters.com

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