Volvo cuts 1,000 jobs

Sweden's truck maker Volvo reported a sharp fall in annual profits Thursday and announced 1,000 redundancies in its construction equipment business which was hit by falling demand from China.

The group's net profits plunged 41 percent in 2014 to 2.1 billion kronor ($254 million) compared to the previous year, largely due to a 30 percent drop in construction equipment deliveries toward the end of the year.

In China, demand for new equipment dropped significantly as a result of low machine utilization following the reduced mining and construction activity, the company said.

A further 1,000 jobs would be cut in the construction equipment business in Poland, Brazil and the US as several products were discontinued and design and manufacturing was transferred to China.