THE French company Moulinex, which makes household electrical equipment, is to shed 2,600 jobs as part of a restructuring plan to recover from a record loss last year of 702 million francs (£88 million).

Some production is to be transferred to a factory at Celnyn in Mexico, company president Mr Pierre Blayau said.

Trading in shares in the company was suspended shortly before Mr Blayau told staff that the workforce of 11,500 people was to be reduced and that two factories in France would be closed.

The Irish electrical products company Glen Dimplex failed in a takeover bid for Moulinex two years ago. Moulinex, which has two factories in Ireland, said 500 of the job losses would be from plants abroad.