Wärtsilä adjusts its Ship Power business to r...

Wärtsilä Corporation, Company Announcement, 14 May 2009, at 08:45 am
(EET)

The Ship Power business of Wärtsilä Corporation will today initiate
formal process to realign its organisation and resources to adjust to
the substantially weakened global marine market situation.
Negotiations will affect all of Wärtsilä Ship Power's personnel in
all functions globally. The number of jobs to be reduced is 400-450,
of which approximately 80 are in Finland.

In taking these measures, Wärtsilä is looking for annual savings of
approximately EUR 30 million. The effect of the savings will start to
materialize gradually from the second part of 2009, and will take
full effect by the end of 2010. Wärtsilä reiterates its prospects for
2009.

"The situation in the shipping industry has changed dramatically
during the past six months, and we have taken all possible measures
to avoid job cuts," says Jaakko Eskola, Group Vice President, Ship
Power.
"As the market outlook continues to be very challenging, we must find
cost-saving measures that ensure the Ship Power organisation's
ability to maintain its competitiveness and efficiency, while at the
same time, not jeopardizing customer commitments, " Eskola continues.

Due to the global economic crisis, the shipping industry and
shipbuilding markets have collapsed after a long period of high
demand. In the period January-April 2009, the order intake of Ship
Power plunged to EUR 135 million, a drop of 86% compared to the
corresponding period a year earlier. There is overcapacity in all
major vessel segments. In addition to lowered demand, there are risks
related to delivery of existing orders as well as order
postponements. Wärtsilä sees a potential risk of Ship Power order
cancellations amounting to approximately EUR 1,000 million. During
the period January-April 2009, cancellations of EUR 75 million
materialised and were deducted from the order book.

Through the personnel negotiations, Wärtsilä aims to adjust its Ship
Power business to respond to the needs of its customer segments. The
effect of these adjustments on different personnel groups will be
specified as the negotiations proceed.

Wärtsilä Ship Power has approximately 1300 employees, with the main
disciplines being sales, project management, engineering services and
ship design. Wärtsilä Ship Power has operations in some 30
countries.


For further information, please contact:

Mr Jaakko Eskola
Group Vice President
Wärtsilä Ship Power
Tel: [phone]

Mr Atte Palomäki
Group Vice President, Communications & Branding
Wärtsilä Corporation
Tel: [phone]


For investor information, please contact:

Mr Raimo Lind
Group Vice President, CFO
Wärtsilä Corporation
Tel: [phone]


Ms Josephine Mickwitz
Director, Investor Relations
Wärtsilä Corporation
Tel: [phone]


Wärtsilä in brief
Wärtsilä is a global leader in complete lifecycle power solutions for
the marine and energy markets. By emphasising technological
innovation and total efficiency, Wärtsilä maximises the environmental
and economic performance of the vessels and power plants of its
customers.

In 2008, Wärtsilä's net sales totalled EUR 4.6 billion with 19,000
employees. The company has operations in 160 locations in 70
countries around the world. Wärtsilä is listed on the NASDAQ OMX
Helsinki, Finland.

www.wartsila.com


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