German utility Uniper prepares job cuts - sources

DUESSELDORF (Reuters) - German utility Uniper, which is majority-owned by Finland's Fortum, is planning far-reaching cut jobs, two people familiar with the matter said, adding that staff was currently being informed about the move.

A labour source said that the cuts, which are expected to impact the energy firm's engineering unit that provides services to power plants, could affect more than 1,000 workers and that individual units could be sold.

Uniper said there would be a statement in the course of the day, but declined to comment further.

The group has been under pressure to decarbonise due to Germany's plan to abandon coal as an energy source by 2038 at the latest as well as its acquisition by Fortum, which has outlined a path to drastically reduce CO2 emissions.

Fortum, which owns 76% in Uniper, said last month it could free up additional cash to boost its war chest to expand in solar and wind energy assets, a field that is becoming increasingly crowded by utilities as well as oil majors.

(Reporting by Tom Kaeckenhoff; Writing by Christoph Steitz; Editing by Sabine Wollrab)