Anora, the Nordic wine-and-spirits supplier, has completed talks with staff on its plans to cut jobs.
The company, which is looking to bolster its profits, said in November it would cut around 40 positions in a bid to generate savings of €3-4m ($3.3-4.3m).
Anora, home to brands including Koskenkorva vodka, said this week that 37 roles would be axed.
“The negotiations have been concluded in all operating countries. The changes in organisational structures support a stronger commercial focus, reduce complexity, and create synergies in line with Anora’s strategy,” the company said in a statement.
The cuts are in addition to 40 redundancies announced last February as part of a streamlining drive at the company’s bottling operations.
Anora issued two profit warnings in 2023, one in August and another in December.
In the second warning, the group said it expected its comparable EBITDA to be €66-69m in 2023, down from its revised August forecast of €70-78m. In 2022, Anora booked comparable EBITDA of €76.1m.
In December, Anora pointed to weaker profits from the company’s wine business than it had previously forecasted. It also cited the impact of “lower monopoly sales” in the fourth quarter of the year.
The business is set to announce its 2023 financial results next month. In the nine months to the end of September, Anora generated net sales of €515.3m, up 7.1% on the corresponding period a year earlier. Comparable EBITDA was 25.5% lower at €41.1m. Net profit was down 70.1% at €4.3m.
In October, the company appointed former Carlsberg executive Jacek Pastuszka as CEO, replacing nine-year incumbent Pekka Tennilä.
A month earlier, Anora sold a clutch of brands – including Larsen Cognac – to International Beverage Holdings, the international arm of Thai giant Thai Beverage.
Earlier this month, Anora announced CFO Sigmund Toth would step down from the role.
Toth has served as Anora’s CFO since its creation, following a merger between Norway’s Arcus Group and Finland’s Altia Group in 2021.
He will remain in place as CFO until 1 August “at the latest”, the company said.
