The Austrian-German sensor and chip manufacturer AMS-Osram is initiating a new round of cost-cutting and plans to cut approximately 2,000 jobs over the next three years. Half of these layoffs will affect Europe, with the remainder impacting Asia, the struggling company, which employs about 19,000 people, announced on Tuesday in Premstätten near Graz. With its cost-saving program dubbed "Simplify," AMS-Osram aims to reduce expenses by a further 200 million euros by 2028. "With this and the recently announced sale of part of our sensor business to Infineon, we are sharpening our competitiveness and regaining the financial flexibility to invest strategically in our growth," said CEO Aldo Kamper.

In the past year, AMS-Osram's revenue shrank by three percent to 3.32 billion euros, mainly due to a weaker dollar, although the core chip business grew by seven percent on a currency-adjusted basis. Adjusted operating profit (Ebitda) improved by six percent to 608 million euros, corresponding to a margin of 18.3 percent (previous year: 16.8 percent). The bottom line showed a loss of 129 million euros, which, while still negative, was significantly lower than the previous year's loss of 785 million euros. In the fourth quarter, revenues reached 874 million euros (compared to 882 million euros a year earlier), coming in at the upper end of expectations.

For the current year, following the sale of business units to Infineon and Japan's Ushio, a moderate decline in revenue is expected. Adjusted Ebitda is likely to be impacted by one-off effects and higher precious metal prices. For the first quarter, sales are projected to be between 710 and 810 million euros, with an adjusted Ebitda margin of 13.5 to 16.5 percent.

(Reporting by Alexander Hübner, edited by Ralf Banser. For further inquiries, please contact our editorial team at berlin.newsroom@thomsonreuters.com (for politics and economics) or frankfurt.newsroom@thomsonreuters.com (for companies and markets).)