SBM Offshore Cutting 1,200 Jobs Worldwide

Dutch oil platform leasing company SBM Offshore is cutting 1,200 jobs, or slightly more than 11 percent of its global workforce, as part of a cost-saving programme.

The company, which settled a bribery case with Dutch prosecutors for a record $200 million payment last month, said on Thursday half of the jobs involved contractors and the rest permanent staff.

The cuts will be made in all five regions in which the company operates, a spokeswoman said.

"Although we regret losing some of our colleagues, we believe these steps are necessary to deliver value to our stakeholders and drive profitable growth over time," chief executive Bruno Chabas said in a statement.

SBM said the cuts were expected to save $40 million a year, relating to permanent employees. The measures will cost $25 million, of which $17 million will be booked in 2014 and $8 million in 2015.

The company, which supplies floating oil and gas platforms and employs 10,500 people, said its headquarters would be moved from the town of Schiedam, near the port of Rotterdam, to the Dutch financial capital Amsterdam in 2015.

Dutch and U.S. regulators dropped bribery inquiries into SBM Offshore after the settlement, the largest in Dutch history, but the company is still under investigation in Brazil.

The settlement, which was in line with provisions already taken, ended a two-and-a-half year inquiry into improper payments to government officials in Angola, Brazil and Equatorial Guinea by sales agents between 2007 and 2011.

 

Reporting by Anthony Deutsch