TNT Express to cut 4,000 jobs after failed takeover

TNT Express, facing overcapacity and rapidly eroding prices in Europe, had focused on a strategy in which UPS would help it cope with difficult markets. UPS’s bid for TNT Express was blocked by the European Union Commission in January due to concerns it would have too dominant a market position. TNT Express said it did not expect offers from other rivals and is not a break-up target.

The cuts, which equate to 6 per cent of its workforce, are aimed at saving €220 million (£186m) by 2015, and will result in a restructuring charge of €150m.

Roughly two-thirds of the job cuts will be in Europe where TNT Express generates the bulk of sales, said interim chief executive Bernard Bot.

Rabobank analyst Philip Scholte said the firm was “counting on a recovery in Europe, but that’s a pretty big condition”.

“Continued margin erosion means they have to make profit in other ways and that meant job cuts were unavoidable,” he added.

TNT Express last month announced plans to sell domestic units in Brazil and China.