French energy and transport company Alstom said on Wednesday it would cut 1,300 jobs worldwide, mostly in Europe, as part of a plan to dramatically cut costs.

Announcing the job cuts in a conference call, Alstom chief executive Patrick Kron said the company’s thermal power business and information technology divisions would be chiefly affected.

Alstom makes turbines for power plants and wind farms, as well as being the manufacturer of France’s high-speed TGV train, which has been exported worldwide.

Its power business has been particularly affected by a slowdown in public spending on energy projects.

In the six months to September 30, the company booked 9.4 billion euros ($12.7 billion) in orders, down 22 per cent on the same period in 2012.

“In the current low-growth environment, we need to further reinforce our competitiveness; we are accelerating our performance plan and expect annual cost savings ramping up to 1.5 billion euros by April 2016,” Kron said in a statement accompanying the results.

A spokesman for Alstom Germany told dpa that around 700 jobs would be cut in the thermal power division in the coming three years, with the remaining 600 cuts targeting IT staff.

Alstom said it was also considering selling a minority stake in its transport business.

Alstom employs around 93,000 people in around 100 countries.

More than 5,000 jobs have already been cut in two previous restructuring plans in 2010 and 2011.

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