Henkel's French subsidiary to close two sites

The French subsidiary of the German chemical products group Henkel said on Monday it would close two sites in France and cut 251 jobs to cope with the economic downturn and to boost its competitiveness.

 Citing "a particularly
unfavourable" economic climate, Henkel Technologies France said
in a statement it was closing its offices in Chalons-en-Champagne and
Cosne-sur-Loire and reorganising its laboratories in a third site.

Henkel Germany plans to close five
sites around Europe, according to an industry source. The others
reportedly are located in Germany, Italy and Britain.

Henkel lowered its profit growth target
earlier this month, saying its third-quarter results had suffered
from restructuring and the weak economic climate.