Germany's ProSiebenSat. 1 to cut 400 jobs in push towards digital

BERLIN (Reuters) -German media group ProSiebenSat.1 will cut 400 full-time positions, the company said on Tuesday, as part of restructuring measures focusing on its entertainment activities.

"The aim is to achieve a more efficient structure, a competitive cost base, and processes clearly geared to digital transformation," the company said in a statement.

ProSiebenSat.1 said the company had agreed on a voluntary redundancy programme with employee representatives, with the first effects of the cuts to become visible in the fourth quarter of this year.

The measures are expected to amount to a low double-digit million euro amount for 2023, which has already been taken into account for this year's outlook, it added.

The full cost effect for 2024 will amount to a mid double-digit million euro amount.

The downsizing amounts to one 10th of some 4,000 full-time positions at the company's headquarters and in its entertainment division.

The cuts include vacant positions that will no longer be filled, a spokesperson said.

"We have to operate in an extremely challenging economic environment for the fourth year in a row," said Chief Executive Bert Habets.

"The job cuts are a difficult but entrepreneurially necessary decision, so that ProSiebenSat.1 can increase its earning power and grow sustainably and healthily again," he said in the statement.

(Reporting by Alexander Huebner, Writing by Friederike Heine, Editing by Rachel More)