Rome, June 23: Italian industrial conglomerate Fiat on Thursday is due to announce up to 12,000 layoffs, mainly outside Italy, a media report quoting a source close to the company said. Fiat, the parent of ailing car maker Fiat Auto, is expected to announce job cuts in several of its units -- including farm-equipment maker CNH, truck concern Iveco and car-parts firm Magneti Marelli, the newspaper said. About 4,000 of the cuts are at CNH, the source added.
Earlier reports had put the number of layoffs at 8,000-10,000.
At a board meeting Thursday, Fiat executives also may discuss what is a likely re-negotiation of a USD 3.5 billion convertible loan extended to Fiat by a group of Italian banks last spring, the newspaper added. Under terms of a three-year loan signed in 2002, banks are reimbursed in Fiat ordinary shares at a price equal to the average of 15.5 Euros and the average of Fiat's share price over the preceding months.
Fiat had put about 8,500 employees, mainly at its Italian auto factories, on extended temporary layoffs last fall.
Despite the cost-cutting measure, Fiat in May posted a first-quarter consolidated loss of 699 million Euros. Its car unit fiat auto, in which US giant General Motors Corporation owns 20 per cent, recorded a loss of 334 million Euros. Consolidated net debt stood at 5.2 billion Euros, an increase of 1.4 billion Euros from the 2002 first quarter. Bureau Report