Switzerland – Straumann – To cut 150 jobs

Swiss dental implant maker Straumann (STMN.S) said it would axe roughly 150 jobs to boost margins as it grapples with sluggish demand in Europe, its biggest market.

The euro zone debt crisis has battered sales of dental implants made by Straumann and its Swiss rival Nobel Biocare (NOBN.S) as cash-strapped Europeans, worried about the downturn, cut back on non-essential dental treatment.

Chief Executive Beat Spalinger said the company had decided to slash 150 jobs by the start of 2013 – roughly 6 percent of its global workforce – after operating margins fell below 15 percent in the first half of the year, a level he deemed “unacceptable”.

The axe will fall on jobs at Straumann’s headquarters in Basel as well as sales subsidiaries around the world while manufacturing will be spared, Spalinger said…

Choosen excerpts by JMM from

via Straumann to cut jobs as Europe sales slow | Reuters.