Stockholm - Swedish heavy-vehicle maker Scania on Tuesday reported that pre-tax income for the fourth-quarter 2008 was halved, and said it planned to cut some
2,000 employees from its workforce.

Pre-tax income was 1.7 billion kronor (203 million dollars), compared to 3.6 billion kronor in the corresponding business period 2007.

Year-on-year sales in the quarter declined from 24.5 billion kronor to 22.6 billion kronor.

For full-year 2008, the group posted a 5-per-cent increase of net sales to 89.97 billion kronor, while pre-tax income for the full-year was almost flat on 11.9 billion kronor.

"Scania's earnings for the full year 2008 were the strongest ever, primarily driven by high vehicle volume and high prices," Scania chief executive Leif Ostling said.

Ostling noted that in the second half of 2008, the financial crisis had contributed to a slowdown with order cancellations and postponed deliveries of trucks.

Scania was to further trim its production workforce by not extending contracts with some 2,000 temporary employees, resulting in about 10,000 employees in production at the end of the quarter. The group had some 34,700 employees at the end of 2008.

During the quarter, Scania delivered 17,975 trucks and buses, compared to 22,005 vehicles in fourth quarter of 2007.

For full-year 2008, total deliveries declined 3 per cent to 73,793 vehicles, including 66,516 trucks.

Scania estimated it had about 12.9 per cent of the truck market in Europe, down from 13.6 per cent in 2007. (dpa)