Grifols to lay off 8.5% of workforce under $427 mln savings plan

BARCELONA, Feb 15 (Reuters) - Spanish pharmaceutical firm Grifols plans to lay off around 2,300 employees, or 8.5% of its global workforce, amid a strategy overhaul aimed at reaching annual savings of around 400 million euros ($427 million), it said on Wednesday.

The company, which uses blood plasma to make medicines, said in a statement it would cut 2,000 jobs at its plasma business in the United States this year, as it seeks to have a "more efficient" platform to obtain plasma and to lower costs.

It will also fire 300 people, mainly in the United States and some in Spain, amid a plan of "rationalization of its corporate functions", which will include centralizing and automating work flows. The layoffs will take place this year too, a spokesperson said.

Grifols expects savings of 100 million euros to be reflected in its 2023 balance sheet, while the remaining 300 million would be added in 2024.

The company has around 27,000 employees worldwide in 30 countries, with the United States being its main market. In Spain, it has around 4,300 employees.

Grifols has been struggling to recover from the severe blow out its business during the pandemic when blood collection was halted in many countries.

Plasma shortages dented Grifols' results in 2020 and 2021 as blood collection collapsed around the world during the pandemic.

Its 2022 first-half net profit fell 46% year-on-year to 143.6 million euros due to asset acquisitions, even though revenues and plasma collection rose. ($1 = 0.9361 euros) (Reporting by Joan Faus, editing by Andrei Khalip)