Siemens to cut almost 1,100 German jobs in energy sector

The logo of Siemens AG company is pictured atop a factory in Berlin October 9, 2012.

BERLIN (Reuters) - Siemens AG (SIEGn.DE) said it plans to cut almost 1,100 jobs in Germany as the engineering giant trims costs to make its energy operations more profitable.

Three out of four layoffs will affect the so-called Fossil Power Generation business and the remainder will hit the Oil & Gas division, company spokesman Alfons Benzinger said on Thursday in an e-mailed statement.

Munich-based Siemens announced a massive savings drive last month, facing pressure to lower production costs to close a gap with more profitable rivals such as U.S.-based General Electric Co (GE.N) and Switzerland's ABB (ABBN.VX).

The energy business, which generates just over a third of group revenue, will account for more than half of a planned 6 billion euros ($7.94 billion) of savings over the next two years, the company said on December 11.

The energy business offers products such as gas and wind turbines, subsea power supply systems for oil platforms and entire turnkey power plants.

(Reporting by Andreas Cremer, additional reporting by Maria Sheahan; editing by Matthew Lewis)