Finland Times

At the beginning of negotiations, the number of redundancy was estimated to be 380 employees. Even though its performance improved in the first half of 2016, Stockmann still decided to cut about 300 jobs.

In the interim report published on Friday, the group's sales rose slightly to 353 million euros in April-June, two million more than a year ago.

The adjusted operating profit surged from 2.5 million euros to 11.1 million, as a positive effect achieved from its reconstruction plans.

The layoffs will mainly target senior personnel, who are working in the areas of financing, purchasing, marketing and so on.

"The number of department store sales assistants will not be reduced to ensure excellent customer service," said Stockmann in a press release.

The group said its aim is to save around 20 million euros annually and predicted it will be achieved during 2017.

Stockmann's sales and profits suffered from the stagnation of the Finnish economy and the recession in Russia in recent years. The retail group has made efforts to reverse its financial difficulties since mid-2014.

In October 2014, Stockmann proclaimed its reconstruction plans, which resulted in shutdown of all of its Seppala fashion stores in Russia, and significantly reducing Seppala's operations in Finland and the Baltic countries.

In February 2015, the group closed its four loss-making department stores, among which three were in Moscow, Russia and one in Oulu, Finland. In April 2016, it sold its Hobby Hall online store to domestic SGN Group.

Founded in 1862, Stockmann is a Finnish listed company engaged in the retail trade. By the end of 2015, the group employed about 9,730 people globally.