E.ON to cut administrative jobs in savings drive: CEO in paper

German utility E.ON plans to cut administrative jobs as part of efforts to reduce costs by 400 million euros (340.78 million pounds), Chief Executive Johannes Teyssen told newspaper Rheinische Post.

"Based on previous experience, 50 percent of savings in such efficiency programs come from personnel costs and 50 percent from the cost of material," he said in the interview, published on Saturday, adding the company was in the process of determining how many jobs are to go.

He said staff would be affected at the company's headquarters in Essen, where around 600 people work in central administration. Teyssen said E.ON was also looking into whether it could boost efficiency at subsidiaries and shared service centers as well.

Asked whether he could rule out forced redundancies, he said he was confident of finding fair solutions in 2017.

E.ON last month reported its third record loss in as many years, battered by writedowns on Uniper , the power plant and energy-trading unit it spun off in September.

(Reporting by Maria Sheahan; editing by Jason Neely)