Turkish TV maker Grundig cuts staff by 25 pct as demand falls

Grundig, formerly Beko Elektronik, said it had made 432 staff redundant in the move, which also reflected seasonal demand fluctuations.Â

 

Production of old-style cathode ray tube televisions had been reduced in favor of liquid crystal display (LCD) television production, which is less labor intensive, the company added in the statement.

 

Grundig Elektronik, a subsidiary of conglomerate Koc Holding's Arcelik unit, had revenue of 1.356 billion lira ($896 million) last year and a pretax loss of 93.5 million lira.

 

Its total TV sales were 3.4 million units last year, with exports, virtually all to Europe, accounting for 73 percent of sales.

 

In June, the company said it targeted a 20 percent increase in 2008 turnover to 1.7 billion lira.

 

Grundig became the latest company to decide on heavy job cuts or production suspensions as the affects of the global economic crisis continue to have a deeper impact on Turkey than previously predicted.