Office Depot To Cut 1,100 Jobs In Europe

Office Depot Inc (ODP.O) said it would cut about 1,100 jobs in Europe as part of a restructuring plan and expects to reduce annual costs by about $90 million by the end of 2016.

The office supply retailer had 64,000 employees worldwide as of Jan. 25.

Office Depot's international division has been undergoing restructuring, including disposal of assets and streamlining processes mainly in Europe to better combat competitive pressures and soft economic conditions in the region.

The company recorded a charge of $28 million related to the abandonment of a software implementation project in Europe in the first half of this year.

The latest restructuring is expected to be "substantially completed" by December 2015 and will result in pretax charges of about $120 million. Of this, $112 million would be cash expenditure during 2014 and 2015.

The restructuring charges will consist of about $95 million of severance pay and other employee termination benefits.

The company, which reported a loss in five out of the last six years, named turnaround expert Roland Smith as chief executive last November.

Office Depot's shares, which went up as much as 2.5 percent to $4.80 in early trading, were trading slightly up at $4.72.

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