Croatian Telco T-HT To Cut 216 Staff To Save Costs

"The average severance pay cost per employee included in the Surplus Management Program is approximately 320,000 Croatian kuna ($60,448/44,673 euro) gross, for which provision has already been booked in 2007 financial year," T-HT said in a statement.

Croatian news agency HINA quoted local trade union leaders as saying in May that T-HT was spending 18% of its revenue on salaries and the average net salary in T-HT was 6,700 kuna, or 5,800 kuna if managerial salaries were deducted. HINA also quoted company managers as saying that the average gross salary, with managerial salaries deducted, was 10,812 kuna.

T-HT had 6,724 employees at the end of last year, down from 10,922 at the beginning of 2000. Its restructuring began in 1999.

The company is 51%-owned by Deutsche Telekom. An initial public offering of a 32.5% stake owned by the Croatian government attracted unexpectedly strong investor interest last autumn and was more than seven times oversubscribed. T-HT stock was floated in October on the bourses in Zagreb and London and quickly became the most liquid share on the Croatian bourse.

T-HT's shares closed at 245 kuna in Zagreb on Friday, down 1.48% from Thursday.

(1 euro = 7.163 Croatian kuna)