China's Yangzijiang Shipbuilding Plans to Cut Another 10% of Workforce 2017

Ships seen under construction at Yangzijiang Shipbuilding in China.

SINGAPORE, March 1 (Reuters) – China’s Yangzijiang Shipbuilding Holdings Ltd plans to cut another 10 percent of its workforce in 2017, its executive chairman said, as the company seeks to ride out a prolonged downturn in the industry.

The Singapore-listed firm plans to reduce its labour force this year to 18,000 from 20,000, Ren Yuanlin said at an earnings briefing on Wednesday. It has already reduced it workforce by 20 percent over the last two years.

Yangzijiang posted a 29 percent fall in 2016 net profit. Its order book stood at $4.3 billion at 2016-end with the company winning contracts worth $823 million last year.

The company is targeting orders worth $1.5 billion this year, Ren said.

The company, which has four shipyards in China’s Jiangsu province, builds a range of vessels including large container ships, bulk carriers and liquefied natural gas carriers.

Yangzijiang shares were last up 7.6 percent at S$0.995 on Wednesday, while the broader market was 0.6 percent higher. (Reporting by Aradhana Aravindan; Editing by Subhranshu Sahu)

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